On April 13, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan met with the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Foreign Minister of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, who is in Armenia on a working visit.

The meeting started with tête-à-tête, then continued in an expanded format, which was followed by a press conference of the Foreign Ministers of the two countries.

In his remarks Minister Mirzoyan particularly noted:

“Dear Mr. Minister, Mr. Osmani,

Dear colleagues,

I once again welcome you in Yerevan in your capacity as the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. This visit takes place at a difficult time for Armenia when we are facing threats and challenges that are directly related to the fundamental principles and mandate of the OSCE, security and stability in the region. Thus the visit of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to Armenia is a good opportunity to discuss the problems in the region, to emphasize the role of the OSCE, the possibility of engagement, prospects of our further cooperation with the organization.

Of course, Armenia always provides the OSCE partners with reliable information about the security situation in the region, the developments on the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan and around Nagorno-Karabakh. During today's meeting, we discussed the recent developments, I briefed my colleague on the consequences of the aggression, attacks and occupation by Azerbaijan of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia since May 2021, as well as the consequences of the Azerbaijani provocation and aggressive actions in the Tegh village of the Syunik region of the Republic of Armenia on April 11, on the eve of the visit. I must emphasise that Azerbaijan's aggressive actions are gross violations of OSCE values and a number of fundamental principles of the Helsinki Final Act.

In this context, I highlighted the importance of the OSCE fact-finding mission sent to Armenia immediately after the September 2022 aggression. It gave the OSCE observers the opportunity to get familiarised with Azerbaijan's military aggression and its humanitarian consequences. I would like to add that in our opinion, the observations of the mission and its final report should be accessible to all participating states as well as to other representatives of the international community, as a source of objective information on the situation created as a result of the Azerbaijani aggression.

Dear attendees,

During the discussions with my colleague we also touched upon the priorities of the North Macedonian presidency in the OSCE, as well as the challenges the organisation is facing and possible efforts towards solving them.

In the context of recent geopolitical developments, today the OSCE is facing serious challenges. These challenges require all participating states to address the existing problems in the area of responsibility of the OSCE using all the mechanisms in the organisation's toolbox and express clear positions on those problems without selectivity, political preferences and geopolitical priorities.

Dear attendees,

As you know, it is the fourth month as Azerbaijan has been illegally blocking the Lachin corridor, disregarding the legally binding decision of the International Court of Justice of February 22 and the clear demand of the international community to ensure its implementation. By blocking the Lachin corridor, terrorising as well as through other actions aimed at forcing the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to leave their homes, Azerbaijan seeks to implement a systematic policy of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. I would like to emphasise that the International Court of Justice testified to the existence of an immediate danger of irreparable harm to the rights of Armenians within the framework of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

In this context, taking into account the current situation, I once again stressed that the unhindered entry of international humanitarian organisations to Nagorno-Karabakh, the sending of an international fact-finding mission to Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin corridor can be of great importance in putting an end to the false theses regularly circulated by Azerbaijan, in preventing aggression, in ending human suffering and establishing stability in the region.

I drew my colleague's attention to the violations of the provisions of the November 9 2020 Trilateral Statement by Azerbaijan. The latter refuses to return all Armenian prisoners of war and civilians held as hostages, conducting sham trials against them.

In parallel with not ensuring the return of internally displaced persons and refugees under the control of the Agency of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions in accordance with the November 9 Statement, Baku is inhabiting the Armenian settlements fallen under its control with Azerbaijanis.

Manifesting overt contempt for the fundamental principles of international law, the Azerbaijani side continues its belligerent rhetoric and hate speech, threatening with new aggression and seriously endangering regional stability.

Dear attendees,

Armenia is consistent regarding the implementation of its obligations under the November 9 Statement and efforts to establish comprehensive and sustainable stability in the region. For this purpose, Armenia continues negotiations with Azerbaijan in good faith towards the normalisation of relations, including the draft peace treaty. I would like to underline that addressing the issues of the rights and security of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh under the internationally guaranteed mechanisms is indeed key for the final settlement.

We are confident that the OSCE, as an organisation dealing with the  Nagorno-Karabakh conflict since 1990s, should activate its involvement, including for preventing any manifestations of the use of force. We attach great importance to the role of the OSCE Chairmanship as well as the involvement of the structures established for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in accordance with their mandate.

In conclusion, I would like to note that, using the opportunity, today we also exchanged views on issues of the bilateral agenda between Armenia and North Macedonia. Armenia attaches great importance to its relations with North Macedonia and is ready to further promote our bilateral agenda and mutually beneficial cooperation. I am confident that through our joint efforts we will be able to develop cooperation in all areas of mutual interest.

Mr. Osmani,

Once again, I thank you for today’s discussions and pass the floor to you.”

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Question (Public TV): My question is for both Foreign Ministers. In the context of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the need for active involvement of the OSCE Minsk Group and the OSCE was emphasised, but as it is known, after the war, the president of Azerbaijan repeatedly stated that the conflict no longer exists, although the facts prove the opposite. Besides, speaking about the role of the Minsk Group, he noted that it has exhausted itself and there is no need of it anymore. How would you interpret this? Doesn't this contribute to further escalation of the conflict?

Ararat Mirzoyan: I think that we cannot be guided by the Azerbaijani narratives, especially considering the fact that very often various Azerbaijani narratives on different topics have contradicting themselves. We can only mention the example of the Lachin corridor, when Azerbaijan claimed and, I think, still claims that the corridor is not closed, it is not blocked, then simultaneously or two days apart, it claimed that the corridor was blocked by civil environmental activists, who have environmental concerns, then they said that those activists should check the vehicles and people passing through the corridor, etc. If we are guided by Azerbaijani claims, we will be completely confused.

Moreover, Azerbaijan claims that not only the Minsk Group no longer exists, but also Nagorno-Karabakh, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in general, there is no question in that context that should be addressed, there is no international discussion, solution, etc. To be precise, the fact is that no OSCE participating state alone can put an end to a mechanism, to an institution, a decision, on the foundation of which all participating states agreed unanimously and which was founded, in fact, by all participating states. The Minsk process, the Minsk format exists, but for many reasons, objective and subjective, the activity of the co-chairmanship is currently frozen. I am sure that the Minsk process and the Minsk conference, which it was originally about, still has a task to fullfl and has a role in addressing the issues of rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. And in general, the OSCE also has a task to fullfil, because it is not only about the Minsk process, but also about other institutions, for example, the personal representative of the Chairperson-in-Office and the implementation of his mandate and his opportunities. I am sure that the OSCE has a work to do. We also talked about the fact-finding mission that was sent to the region in December, so as the classic would say, those rumors are a bit exaggerated.

Question (Radio Liberty): A few days, maybe weeks ago, Prime Minister Pashinyan said that according to the plan, the units of the Ministry of Defense along the Armenian border are to be replaced by border guard units. Seeing what is happening now, we know that Azerbaijanis invaded into the borders of Armenia, and we have not found one of them yet, at least both our border guards and the army. Don't you see additional risks here, and whether Baku agrees to replace the army with border guards? Thank you.

Ararat Mirzoyan: Indeed, the replacement of the army and Armed Forces on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border with border guard representatives, I am sure, should be part of the final settlement. This is important in several ways, also understanding that, of course, the border guard service carries out a border guarding mission in all countries, but also the tools are different, the weapons are different, etc. And I am sure that handing over the control of the border to the border guard service will significantly reduce the probability of further new conflicts, including new invasions into the territory of Armenia. This idea is being discussed, this idea is not new, in fact we have previously publicly proposed the possibility of withdrawing the Armed Forces to a certain distance from each other, and this is currently being discussed. And I can also reveal a little secret. It is also part of the discussions on the draft peace treaty, at least in the form of our proposals. I repeat, we consider it important to introduce this mechanism.

Now we already have such a mechanism in some parts of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the border guard service carries out the control. And experience shows that the probability of clashes in those areas, that is, history, at least, shows that the effectiveness of the mechanism that I mentioned exists and actually works. Unfortunately, we are dealing with many unresolved issues. I mentioned, for example, we were negotiating, that the mentioned issue is part of the negotiations, but also parallel to the negotiations, we see that on the ground Azerbaijan continues its undisguised policy of using force. And when, on the ground, force is not used, we continuously hear threats to use force at the highest level terrorizing the civilian population. And these maximalist, aggressive approaches are also manifested in other related, interrelated issues that are being discussed during the negotiations,  including replacing the Armed Forces with border guards etc. That is, parallel to them this does not prevent us from continuing to work in that direction, and again coming back to the question raised privately, yes, it should be part of the general regulations and the final regulations.