ArmInfo.. "Azerbaijan pretends that no agreement was reached on implementation of mechanisms for investigation of borderline incidents and expansion of the OSCE Personal Representative's mandate", Armenia's Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian stated at the today's press conference on the results of the OSCE Ministerial Council.
"Meanwhile the Co-Chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group both during the meetings and in their final statement have emphasized the necessity of implementing these mechanisms", the Minister noted stressing that the enlargement of the mission by several people will not change the situation. "There are such conflict zones were 200-300 observers are needed. However, it is necessary to make at least one small, symbolic step towards creating confidence measures registering that we are advancing by increasing the number of the mission's representatives and their efficiency", Nalbandian stated.
He informed that at first Azerbaijan was against expanding the mission of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. "However, later it agreed to increase the number by 7 people. At the same time Azerbaijan does not agree to their dislocation on the Line of Contact, insisting that they should stay in Baku, Tbilisi and Yerevan. Azerbaijan also demands that the observers should get permission from Baku for visiting the Line of Contact", the Minister informed.
As for the introduction of mechanisms for investigation of borderline incidents Baku stands against this, Nalbandian informed. "Baku continues to make illogical proposals, saying that such mechanisms can be implemented only after settlement of the conflict. But in theory, after the settlement there should not be any borderline clashes and there will be no need to implement such mechanisms", the diplomat stated.
To note, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavorv has also made a statement that the sides have agreed toi expand the mission of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office by 7 people but have not managed yet to agree on their dislocation.
To note, the Heads of Delegation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries - Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov, Secretary of State of the United States John Kerry, and Foreign Minister of France Jean-Marc Ayrault - issued a joint statement on Dec 8. The statement reads, "We call on Baku and Yerevan to honor the agreements reflected in the Joint Statements of the 16 May Summit in Vienna and the 20 June Summit in St. Petersburg. We welcome the sides' progress in implementing the exchange of data on missing persons under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross. We urge the parties to remove all remaining obstacles to expanding the mission of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and to make progress on a proposal to establish an OSCE investigative mechanism. The proposals should be implemented together with the immediate resumption of negotiations on a settlement. We would like to reiterate our call to the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to demonstrate flexibility and to return to the negotiation table with the firm aim of moving toward a sustainable peace on the basis of the current working proposals. Unless progress can be made on negotiations, the prospects for renewed violence will only increase, and the parties will bear full responsibility."