THE MAINDORF DECLARATION
By Armen Manvelian
AZG Armenian Daily
05/11/2008
Karabakh issue
Why did the Presidents sign the document?
On November 2, at the Maindorf Castle in Moscow Armenian and
Azerbaijani Presidents signed a declaration under the patronage of the
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, which is the first document signed
by the two parties after the ceasefire agreement in 1994. In this
sense, the document is historical, as the official Moscow seems to
do the impossible thing – it persuaded the two countries’ presidents
to sign the same document simultaneously. However, more important is
what the parties gain from signing the declaration.
We would like to present the main provisions of the declaration
that are of great importance and can influence the developments of
Karabakh issue.
According to the first clause of the document, the parties "will
facilitate the improvement of the situation in the South Caucasus
and establishment of stability and security in the region through a
political settlement of the conflict based on the principles and norms
of international law and the decisions and documents adopted in this
framework to create favorable conditions for economic development and
comprehensive cooperation in the region". In other words, the parties
exclude military resolution of the issue, at least in coming years,
and the negotiation process will continue within the principles of the
international law, or, correctly, in combination with it. Of course,
it doesn’t mean that Aliyev will stop his war-like announcements,
but they will not be as sharp as before.
According to the second clause (the parties "reinstate the importance
of the mediating efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, taking
into consideration their meeting with the parties on November 29,
2007 and the future discussions held for the purpose of working out
the main principles of political settlement"), the Madrid principles
will be the basis for the future discussions, and new principles will
not be worked out, at least in the nearest future.
The third clause (the parties "agree that the peaceful resolution
should be accompanied by judicially biding international guarantees
in all aspects and stages of settlement) is probably the sincerest
clause of the document, as, according to it, the parties cannot act
without international countries’ consent, for example, they cannot
transfer the issue to the UN, and they have to take into consideration
the viewpoints of the mediator countries in the whole process of
negotiations; it means that their mediation will continue to be active.
The fourth clause mentions that "the Presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan agreed to continue the efforts for the political settlement
of the conflict and instructed the Ministers of Foreign Affairs to
take more active steps in that direction through cooperation with the
OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs". This clause assures that only Russia,
USA and France continue to be the mediators in the negotiation process
of the conflict settlement, and Turkish and Iranian desire to have
their place in the mediator processes is declined from the very outset.
The last clause of the declaration (the parties "emphasize the
importance of creating conditions that will contribute to the
reinforcement of trust within the framework of the efforts targeted at
the settlement of the conflict") has a declarative nature to conclude
the document competently.
The main question to be answered is "Why was the signing of the
declaration necessary?" It was necessary for the Co-chair countries
that followed unwillingly other countries’ attempts to be involved
in the regional developments. It was also necessary for Russia to
affirm once more that the most important place for the resolution
of the issue is not Washington or Paris but Moscow. It means that
Russia strengthening its positions in the South Caucasus needed one
more announcement of its reinforcement and the Maindorf declaration
was a brilliant PR action for it, especially against the background
of the Georgian conflict.