Brussels, 22 January 2021.- Earlier this week the European Parliament adopted three reports, including the annual report on implementation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common Security and Defence Policy of the European Union (CSDP).
The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) welcomes these three resolutions, where a number of important issues are raised. The CFSP for instance stipulate that the process of achieving peace and determining the future status of the region of Nagorno Karabakh/Artsakh should be led by the OSCE Minsk Group and be founded on the group's Basic principles.
The report also states about the urgent need to ensure the security of the Armenian population in Artsakh, its cultural heritage and to provide humanitarian assistance.
The European Parliament also strongly condemns Turkey's destructive role during the war and in the region in general, as well as the transfer of foreign terrorist fighters from Syria to Nagorno Karabakh and thus assisting Azerbaijan."
Commenting on the reports, the executive director of the EAFJD, Heghine Evinyan stated: "As an organization that has been actively raising awareness among the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), it has been clear for us that overwhelming majority of the MEPs know very well who is the aggressor, namely Azerbaijan and Turkey. Many MEPs have also publicly demanded strong and concrete measures against these countries."
Unfortunately, we are witnessing a clear gap between the stance of the European Parliament and that of the EU executive brunch. "This became clear during the European parliament Plenary sessions in October 2020 when the war in Karabakh was still raging. The MEPs delivered strong and critical speeches in the presence of the EU High Representative Borrell. But words acquire weight when they are followed and substantiated by corresponding actions. The European commission and the governments need to take action when concerns are raised by elected parliamentarians. Otherwise, it leads to disappointment and gives rise to questions about credibility and unfortunately also about the reality of upholding human rights and values that the West prides itself on. In this sense, there is still a way to go to make the gap between words and actions smaller," said Evinyan.
As a European grassroots organization the EAFJD will continue its work in this direction and will keep sensitizing about the fundamental rights of the indigenous Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh.
European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy