Interviews political scientist Rasim Musabeyov, a non-partisan member of parliament.
Q: The European Parliament recently passed a resolution, calling for dialogue with unrecognized "republics" across the former USSR. Do you think this resolution will influence the EU’s approach to settlement of the Karabakh conflict?
A: It won’t have any influence. The European Parliament receives thousands of similar documents every year, and the resolution is just one of them. The European Parliament should not content itself with only watching the situation in the region. It would be better to try to influence it, including through making contact with unrecognized authorities.
The EU is already acting this year on Abkhazia. As for other unrecognized entities, the EU does not have any programs in South Ossetia or Nagorno-Karabakh and is not even moving towards this, since both Azerbaijan and Georgia are against it. This is why the EU is not implementing any programs or taking action in the occupied lands without Azerbaijan’s permission.
Q: May the EU establish ties with separatists, using the terminology of the resolution, particularly, "the need to maintain cultural dialogue with unrecognized republics"?
A: The use of such terms is not a huge argument for the EU to establish such contacts with unrecognized entities. This is a usual formulation on the need to establish dialogue.
EU officials earlier also spoke of a possible dialogue with unrecognized "republics".
The USA maintained such a "dialogue" with Nagorno-Karabakh for a while, allocating financial assistance to it every year and carrying out programs there. For example, the US Congress assigns $10m to Karabakh, though the State Department cuts this amount, saying $1.5m would be enough. This steep reduction in financial assistance is connected with Baku’s opposition. In other words, I would like to repeat that the EU will not establish contacts with Karabakh without the permission of Baku.
Q: How can Azerbaijan react to possible EU attempts to contact the separatist regime in Karabakh?
A: Azerbaijan should not allow the Europeans to go to Karabakh and speak on behalf of Azerbaijan. Anyway, EU representatives will not even dare to set foot on the occupied lands without the permission of Baku. In other words, this resolution will not have any serious implications for the negotiating process, especially since this document does not mean changes in EU policy on occupied lands
Q: Is the initiative of some European think-tanks for an international conference on security and cooperation in the Caucasus in 2014 realistic? Can the international community work out a single approach to settling conflicts in the Caucasus by then?
A: The Nagorno-Karabakh problem is a conflict with parties to the conflict and I find it hard to imagine what Georgia and Russia or Azerbaijan and Armenia would talk about at such a conference. The conference is primarily needed to settle practical problems and discuss the security problems of the region. In other words, it requires at least some progress in solving these conflicts. Any conference without such achievements will turn into a talking shop or, to be more exact a rowing shop between the conflict parties. I would like to repeat that this conference will not be productive.
Practical issues on conflict settlement are settled in a format involving several states. For example, the Minsk Group negotiates to find an appropriate option to settle the Karabakh conflict. On a par with this, Russia and Turkey also negotiate to settle the Karabakh problems. Talks related to the territorial integrity of Georgia are held in Geneva with Russia’s participation. Practical issues are settled in such negotiations in the states format model. All other events play just a secondary part in solving the problems.
Lala B.
News.Az
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