On September 27, in the framework of the working visit to Belgium Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Karen Mirzoyan met with the leadership of the EU-Armenia Friendship Group headed by the President of the group Eleni Theocharous.
During the meeting, a range of issues related to Artsakh-Europe relations, settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict and regional processes were discussed.
On the same day Karen Mirzoyan met with the President of the Friendship group with Artsakh in the European Parliament Frank Engel and other members of the group. During the meeting, a number of issues related to the activity of the friendship group were discussed. The sides highlighted the importance of deepening ties with various European structures, including the European Parliament.
Later in the day, Karen Mirzoyan, as a keynote speaker, delivered a speech at a round-table organized by Frank Engel entitled “Nagorno Karabakh Republic: 25 years of state-building in a volatile region” at the premises of the European Parliament.
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In his speech, the NKR Foreign Minister stated, in particular, that 25 years ago the people of Nagorno Karabakh voted for independence on a nation-wide referendum which became the logical continuation of Artsakh liberation struggle in response to decades of discrimination and oppression by Azerbaijan.
“In spite of the peaceful and legitimate nature of the Karabakh movement, from the very beginning Azerbaijan rejected any dialogue and resorted to the language of threats and intimidation which led to a large-scale war against Nagorno Karabakh and its peaceful population”, Karen Mirzoyan said.
The NKR Foreign Minister stressed that even today the people of Artsakh literally have to defend the young democracy in the conditions of constant attempts of Azerbaijan to return Nagorno Karabakh to the past. Karen Mirzoyan noted that the NKR had repeatedly spoken out publicly about Azerbaijan openly preparing for the resumption of war by, however, the international community did not react to these warnings. The impunity enjoyed by Azerbaijan led to the resumption of hostilities against Nagorno Karabakh on April 2б, 2016.
Karen Mirzoyan stressed that the people of Artsakh cannot remain hostage to the destructive policy of Azerbaijan and will continue to develop even in the conditions of the unresolved Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict. In this regard the Foreign Minister mentioned that the NKR authorities attach great importance to the expansion and deepening of foreign relations of the NKR at all levels, its integration into the international processes.
Karen Mirzoyan expressed confidence that expansion of the international cooperation will be an important contribution to strengthening peace and security in the region.
“We believe that the time has come for the international community to support our struggle. It’s time to recognize and support the reality – existence and consistent development of the free and democratic Nagorno Karabakh Republic”, Karen Mirzoyan concluded.
The NKR Foreign Minister answered questions of participants.
Members of the NKR National Assembly delegation, members of the European Parliament and experts attended the discussion.
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE NAGORNO KARABAKH REPUBLIC