PM Pashinyan – Karabakh Armenians Must Exercise Their Right for Self-Determination

YEREVAN — Sweden’s visiting Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ann Linde met in Yerevan with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Tuesday.

According to the Armenian prime minister’s press office, during the meeting Linde highlighted the importance of the work of the Minsk Group co-chairs in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Pashinyan, for his part, stressed the importance of close cooperation with the OSCE in ensuring stability and security in the region. The Armenian premier, too, emphasized that the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is only possible within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship. In this regard, Pashinyan also stressed the need for the clarification of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and the exercise by Karabakh Armenians of their right to self-determination.

As quoted by his press office, Pashinyan pointed out that “regional stability and lasting peace can only be achieved through constructive approaches and an appropriate confidence-building environment, while the Azerbaijani president’s continued aggressive and destructive statements cannot but undermine the process.”

In her capacity of the OSCE’s chairperson-in-office, Linde reportedly prioritized the Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ efforts in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as the efforts made by her personal representative towards achieving a lasting resolution and peace. She said that the OSCE and the international community, in general, have a role to play in terms of addressing the current situation and helping the parties find ways to settlement, a press release said. At the same time, the OSCE chairperson-in-office stressed the importance of respecting international humanitarian law and addressing humanitarian issues and expressed conviction that this will help build an atmosphere of mutual trust, it added.

The OSCE chairperson-in-office arrived in Yerevan late on Monday after visiting Baku where she met with the president and foreign minister of Azerbaijan.