Member of Foreign Relations Committee, also a German Parliamentarian of the CDU/CSU political party, Manfred Grund, lately returned from Nagorno-Karabakh. In Berlin, he spoke about it during the press conference with the journalists of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Russia. He confessed that he had learned about the Azerbaijani “black list” in advance, he mentioned that since Germany is not a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, he is now so much informed about the regional problems, and to criticize the situation, he expressed a desire to visit Nagorno-Karabakh. “I hope that the settlement of the issue will be a reality through negotiations, and in this section the military conflict will be excluded. And I’m afraid that someone is using this process on the background of the conflict in Syria and Ukraine to give a negative solution. One of the solutions could be that Azerbaijan gets back the occupied territories, and the other direction are that Azerbaijan should recognize the autonomy of this region, said the Bundestag parliamentarian, adding that currently no outcome for the peaceful settlement of the conflict is observed, because Azerbaijan is making huge investments in purchase of arms, and “Armenia is Russia’s prisoner.”
Mr. Grund confessed, “Prior to going to Karabakh, I knew about the “black list”, and I hope that some time later I would again have the opportunity to visit Azerbaijan.” He mentioned that he has already been in Azerbaijan for three or four times, and this time, before leaving, he informed the ambassador of Germany to Azerbaijani about his visit, who had responded with accusations, “I told him of my intention to leave for Karabakh and also informed him that I am a free elected Bundestag deputy, and I have the right to go where I want without notifying anyone about it.” Note that the meeting took place in Berlin, the capital of Germany, in the framework of the seminar organized by «Taz.panterstifung» foundation.
Hripsime HOVHANNISYAN
Berlin
