Press statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan following the meeting with Ian Borg, the OSCE Chairperson-in-office, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and Trade of Malta
On May 13, within the framework of the working visit of the OSCE Chairman-in-office, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and Trade Affairs of Malta Borg to Armenia, tête-à-tête meeting with Ararat Mirzoyan took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, followed by an enlarged meeting with the participation of the delegations of the two countries.
After the meeting, Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Malta held a joint press conference.
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Full statement of Minister Mirzoyan and answers to the questions from the media are presented below.
“Honoable Mr. Minister Borg,
Dear friend,
I am happy to welcome you to the Republic of Armenia. I am happy to welcome you in Yerevan in your capacity as the OSCE Chairperson-in-office. This visit is more than expected, taking into account both the current situation in the South Caucasus and the relevance of discussions on the mechanisms of OSCE involvement, as well as the challenges in the OSCE area of responsibility in general.
Today, in the context of geopolitical developments, the OSCE is facing serious challenges, and these challenges require all participating states to address existing problems with the effective use of the organization’s tools and mechanisms in the OSCE area of responsibility. The concept of ensuring a comprehensive, indivisible and cooperative security is at the core of the creation and functioning of the OSCE.
Our region of South Caucasus has not been immune to serious challenges, which in turn undermine such key principles of the OSCE as the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states. These are challenges that are also directly related to the OSCE mandate and emphasize the importance of the structure’s targeted involvement.
Dear colleagues,
In this context, today we discussed our vision of cooperation with the OSCE with the Chairperson-in-office.
And of course, in continuation of our previous discussions, we touched upon regional security. I presented to my colleague the current situation in the South Caucasus, the latest developments in normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and latest developments in our negotiations, including the details of the negotiations held two days ago in Almaty.
In this context, I also emphasized the agreement reached by the border delimitation and border security commissions of the two countries on April 19 that the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration should be the political basis of the border delimitation. Of course, this agreement between the deputy prime ministers of the two countries was the confirmation of the positions expressed by the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan on many occasions on different platforms and in different formats.
A position that, again, the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration and the borders at the time of the collapse of the USSR in 1991 should be the basis for the mutual recognition of the territorial integrity of the two countries and the process of border delimitation. You will remember that the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan agreed on this for the first time in Prague in 2022 after that they had the opportunity to reaffirm this principle on different occasions on different platforms, both jointly and separately We are sure that by confirming this same principle in the peace treaty and by the conclusion of the peace treaty itself, this long-standing conflict can be put to an end and stable, long-lasting peace can be established in the region.
Of course, there are other components of peace as well, and that is the unblocking of regional transportation infrastructure. We have presented our vision – “Crossroads of Peace”: we are not only ready, but also interested in re-opening transport communications, particularly in the first stage, railway communication with Azerbaijan, of course, understanding that all infrastructures will remain under the sovereignty of the countries through the territory of which they will be passing, and they will operate according to the jurisdiction of that country.
Dear attendees,
In conclusion, I should mention that taking advantage of the opportunity provided by this visit, we also exchanged views on issues related to the bilateral agenda between Armenia and Malta. We value relations with Malta and are ready to make active efforts to deepen those relations.
Once again, dear colleague, dear friend, Mr. Minister, I thank you for today’s discussions and express hope that in future discussions we will find mutually acceptable solutions for Europe’s security and cooperation as well.”
Ministry of Foreign Affairs