Dutch politics on Nagorno-Karabakh
The Hague, 17 October 2023 – Outcome of latest debates on the situation of Nagorno Karabakh in Dutch parliament is the adoption of two motions today by a large majority: one regarding military support to Armenia and the other on ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as some important statements by the minister during the debate in reaction to many questions by parliamentarians of 6 different factions.
In the motion on military support the parliament notes that Azerbaijan after the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh announced further plans to attack Armenia. The parliament is asking the government to call on other EU-member states to respond on a possible Armenian request for military support from a positive point of departure.
The second motion, considering the UN definition of ethnic cleansing, asks the government to judge if the exodus of the Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh after the blockade of more than 9 months and the attack on the enclave, falls under the definition of ethnic cleansing.
In the debate last week, the Minister had also responded to questions by MPs Brekelmans (VVD), Boswijk (CDA), Ceder (ChristianUnion), Eppink (BB), Piri (PvdA/Groenlinks) and Bisschop (SGP), confirming, among others that she stands for Armenia’s territorial integrity and had called up bilaterally to Azerbaijan to respect that too by addressing the ambassador of Azerbaijan.
She indicated that the Netherlands and other EU countries give priority to support to the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and provide them with necessary humanitarian help, noting that the Netherlands are in the EU’s advance guard also following a prior motion asking for more humanitarian support.
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She also underlined that the Armenians should continue to have good access to Nagorno-Karabakh and that their cultural heritage should be protected.
In terms of sanctions, she recalled that for the Netherlands, gas delivery is included in the talks on sanctions and even with no positive result yet despite Dutch efforts, the option of sanctions will remain on the table for the Netherlands.
She promised to inform the parliament about Azerbaijan’s gas delivery to the Netherlands and to other EU countries.
Within EU and together with the EU she is committed to working for a lasting peace.
The Dutch position was already marked some weeks ago, with the motion on 21 September by the Dutch parliament (submitted by ChristianUnion and Group Omtzigt factions) during the yearly general debate with the MP Rutte. The motion asked for international humanitarian support in Nagorno-Karabakh to guarantee rights and asked the government to explore in European context, possible sanctions like suspending of the EU-gas deal with Azerbaijan, if the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh would deteriorate and rights could not not be guaranteed. The motion was adopted with large majority, after MP Rutte had called the military escalation by Azerbaijan unacceptable and assured the parliament that the Netherlands would launch measures in Europe, adding that as for the Netherlands sanctions were on the table.
