ECR leaders visited both sides of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

As a member of the delegation formed by the European democrats and conservatives I participated in the political visit to Armenia and Azerbaijan at the end of April and beginning of May. We took the opportunity to get acquainted with the highest political representatives of both countries and therefore later on, we could compare the diverse points of view when speaking about the current situation in both countries and development of their relations with the European Union and its Member States.

Under a leadership of the ECR’s chairman, British conservative Martin Callanan, we managed to meet the new elected president, the new appointed Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, key negotiator for EU relations, the Chairman of the Parliament and representatives of different parliamentary fractions in the capital city of Armenia, Yerevan.

Armenia is a poor country in uneasy political and geographical situation. More than one third of the population lives on the border of poverty. The unemployment rate as well as the number of citizens leaving the country is continuously growing. Moreover, Armenia does not have diplomatic relations with two out of its four neighbor countries, Turkey and Azerbaijan. Trade is then realized across borders with Iran in the south and Georgia in the north.

The main discussion topic among Armenian politicians was regarding a frozen conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh region. Later on we discovered that discussions held in Azerbaijan will concern the same topic. The Nagorno-Karabakh region is ethnically inhabited by Armenians but in the past it became a part of Azerbaijan. More than 20 years ago the Nagorno-Karabakh was occupied by Armenians. It wasn’t only an Azerbaijani minority which was pushed away by Armenians but also its majority in other seven districts (according to Azerbaijani records it was concerning around 740 000 people). This area is occupied by Armenians till nowadays.

After two busy days full of intensive meetings we moved to the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku. The very first meeting we had was with the president Ilham Aliyev who stands as a candidate for the next presidential elections which will be held in autumn 2013. Also here the discussions with the president and other representatives were concerning Nagorno-Karabakh. According to expectations, the Azerbaijani president assesses the situation in a completely diverse way than his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan.

Azerbaijan is in a different economic situation than its poor neighbor. The country is developing dynamically, above all due to its mineral resources, oil and gas which are being exploited in cooperation with global companies. At every turn it is evident that the country invests also into different sectors such as construction industry.
Both countries that we visited are interested in cooperation with the EU Member States. Armenia strives to sign a contract for EU membership whereas Azerbaijan is willing to close a partnership contract. Azerbaijan will proceed with further political cooperation only under the condition that the EU will change its position to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The ECR visit to both countries was extremely productive. It gave us an opportunity to get to know the political and economic situation of both countries directly at the place. It was especially contributive for those who have visited the region for the first time. We had the possibility to meet personally the leading representatives of both countries and to discuss their points of view of the current situation and its possible development. We met many politicians who believe in the same way as we do in free market, competition, free competition of democratic political parties and in people’s responsibility for the destiny of their families. After all meetings that we attended, we came to an agreement that both countries still do have a few things to improve.

For the near future we set a goal that we would like to improve cooperation between ECR and politicians of both countries.

MUDr. Milan Cabrnoch, ODS Member of the European Parliament
Chairman of the Delegation to the EU-Armenia, EU-Azerbaijan and EU-Georgia Parliamentary Cooperation Committees
May 3, 2013