Political Will Needed for Breakthrough in Resolving Karabakh Conflict - Toivo Klaar

Baku / 04.06.19 / Turan: The purpose of this visit to Baku is to meet with the Azerbaijani leadership, familiarize with the current state of the Karabakh settlement, with the positions of the authorities and civil society on this issue. This was announced by the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, Toivo Klaar, in an exclusive interview with Turan.

"As you know, the EU is not a party to the negotiations, but we support the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group and my role is to support these efforts," said Klaar.

"President Ilham Aliyev informed me about how he assesses the current situation, what are the challenges and the opportunities.

At the end of this month, I plan to visit Yerevan and continue discussions with the leadership of Armenia," the EU Special Representative continued.

Did the meeting with Aliyev discuss the implementation of humanitarian steps, as previously announced by the parties? Answering this question, Toivo Klaar said this topic was touched. "We discussed measures to establish trust and mutual understanding. I hope that Baku and Yerevan realize the importance of this process and I asked the President and the Foreign Minister to say how the European Union can help this process," said Klaar.

Answering the question of how the European Union could support the peace process, the representative of Brussels said that for many years the EU has been allocating funds to support civil society, to projects for preparing the population for peace.

It is no secret that contacts at the level of representatives of the civil society of Armenia and Azerbaijan are not welcomed in Baku. How, then, is the implementation of EU projects in this direction possible? To this question, Klaar said that the EU has two such projects, and one of them - a meeting of representatives of civil societies of Armenia and Azerbaijan took place in Tbilisi recently.

Everyone understands that a peaceful settlement is impossible without communication, contacts and understanding of each other. This is why country leaders need to understand how important this is. "After today's meetings with the leadership of Azerbaijan, I got the impression that there is such an understanding," said Klaar.

Have the chances of a peaceful resolution of the conflict increased after the change of power in Armenia? The EU Special Representative answered this question that the new government of Armenia is "definitely" committed to a peaceful settlement and constructive dialogue. "This is our impression on the series of official and unofficial meetings with the Foreign Minister and other Armenian leaders," said Klaar.

Why is there no progress in settlement for 30 years, if everyone is constructive? What is necessary for a breakthrough to occur? The representative of the EU answered these questions that a solution could be found for any conflict. "In order for a breakthrough to occur, the parties must show political will. This is something that cannot be given to them from the outside," the diplomat said. -02I-