11:08, 5 September 2023
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. Two lawmakers representing the major political parties of Austria, the Greens and the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), which comprise the ruling coalition, have called on Azerbaijan to reopen the Lachin Corridor.
Austrian Member of Parliament Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic, The Greens’ spokesperson for foreign policy, has released a statement calling on the EU and the international community to ramp up pressure.
“The escalation in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan continues constantly. We are receiving reports of an impending famine if the situation doesn’t urgently change. Nagorno-Karabakh has been cut off of supplies for months, with devastating consequences, such as malnutrition, miscarriages, absence of medication. Now there’s an urgent need to return to dialogue between the two parties to the conflict and find a solution to swiftly mitigate the disastrous humanitarian situation,” Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic said in a statement.
She added that the EU and the international community should increase pressure and that Azerbaijan must open the Lachin Corridor in line with the ICJ ruling. “We can’t tolerate when the civil society becomes a toy for politics and starves because of political reasons. As long as this is the case, Azerbaijan should not be a trade partner for the EU,” she added.
“We can’t tolerate the explicit destruction of the Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh, and therefore we must use all levers to prevent it,” the Austrian lawmaker added.
"Despite the Russian aggression in Ukraine, the South Caucasus developments shouldn’t be ignored", she said.
SPÖ’s spokesperson for foreign policy, MP Petra Bayr said in a statement that the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is disastrous and 120,000 people are cut off from the outside world by Azerbaijan. “There, near the gates of Europe, a crime against human rights is taking place,” Petra Bayr said.
Noting the ICJ ruling ordering Azerbaijan to open the Lachin Corridor, Petra Bayr said she expects that the EU will finally discuss the situation.
“The fact that responsible decision-makers in international organizations are silent is absolutely unforgivable. I expect Foreign Minister Schallenberg to address this crime in the EU and to bring it to the agenda as soon as possible. The National Council asked him to do so as early as last year.”
Bayr said she would send a parliamentary inquiry to Austrian FM Schallenberg asking him to present what measures the Austrian government has taken for opening humanitarian aid supplies through Lachin Corridor and what questions he’s raised during his meetings with his Azeri counterpart.