OSCE Monitoring to Increase in Nagorno-Karabkh Conflict Zone

The results of last weeks negotiations in Krakow, Poland, between of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Azerbaijan were announced by the the co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group announced. Their statement reads: 

“The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America), together with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, met with Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian on 17 January and Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov on 18 January. The Co- Chairs met jointly with the two Foreign Ministers on 18 January.  

The Ministers and the Co-Chairs discussed next steps for facilitating realization of the agreements reached at previous summits dedicated to the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. The Foreign Ministers agreed in principle to the Co-Chairs' revised concept paper for implementing the expansion of the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office with a view toward finalizing it as soon as possible.  

During the meetings, the parties and Co-Chairs exchanged views on core sensitive issues contained in the working proposals currently on the table. The Co-Chairs also called for pursuing trust-building measures as an important contribution to the negotiation process. The Ministers and the Co-Chairs acknowledged the relative calm on the Line of Contact, and the Co-Chairs urged the parties to reinforce this positive trend.”  

The statement added that the Co-Chairs have indicated their interested to the respective Foreign Ministers in furthering discussing the possibility of “conducting a follow up to the 2010 assessment mission to the territories affected by the conflict,” and that they intend on travelling to the region in early February. 

By Máté Földi