The EU thinks it is too early to hold any referendum on the status of the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
'Any voting on the status of Nagorno Karabakh may occur only at the end of a long process. It is now necessary to agree on the principles of how this process should develop in order to create guarantees for all sides," the European Union's special envoy on the South Caucasus, Peter Semneby, said in an interview with Interfax-Azerbaijannews agency.
He recalled that the principles for a solution to the conflict had been voiced by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia, France, USA).
"I think this is an excellent base for a settlement and the EU calls on both parties (Azerbaijan and Armenia) to adhere to it," Semneby said.
The principles put forward by the Minsk Group mediators as a basis for talks to settle the conflict include the return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control; an interim status for Karabakh providing guarantees for security and self-governance; and the future determination of the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh through a referendum. The status of Karabakh remains the biggest sticking point in the negotiations.
Talks to resolve the conflict appear to have stalled. In an uncharacteristically forthright statement after talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers earlier this month, the OSCE Minsk Group mediators said, "The efforts made so far by the parties to the conflict have not been sufficient to overcome their differences."
The mediators "urged a greater spirit of compromise to reach agreement on a common basis for continuing the negotiations".
In his interview with Interfax-Azerbaijan, Peter Semneby recognized that the process of normalizing ties between Turkey and Armenia influenced the resolution of the Karabakh conflict.
"There is no formal link between these processes. At the same time, we cannot reject that whatever happens in one of these processes affects the atmosphere of trust and this has to be taken into account," he said.
News.Az
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