Toivo Klaar, the representative of the EU on the crisis issue in the South Caucasus and Georgia, referred to the blockade of the Lachin Corridor and the developments surrounding it.
“First of all, I think the idea that there should be transparency about what is being transported on the Lachin road is absolutely legitimate. Because we do not want the Lachin road to be used for any shipment of goods that would exacerbate tensions or be used for any military or sort of illicit purposes. That is one thing. Transparency is absolutely legitimate. The manner in which this transparency is achieved is, I think, something that is subject to discussions and negotiations.
I think there are several ways of doing that. And I believe some of these have been discussed in the past like, for instance, Russians having some additional equipment on the checkpoint to be able to better inspect what is going in and what is going out. Again, I think there are several ways of doing it, I think it is important that this is discussed in detail. I think the view in Armenia is true that these are two separate issues.
One is the Lachin road, which is covered in one point of the November 2020 Statement, and then there is the connection between Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan which is covered in another point of the 2020 Statement. So, from that point of view, these are treated in different areas of that statement.
But, in the end, it is a question of discussion, of negotiation. Our view of course is that, indeed, it is legitimate to have transparency, I think it is also important to have, for the people, for the Armenian inhabitants of Karabakh, a sense of security for them to be able to move back and forth.
And in the present circumstances, whatever the facts about goods being brought in or not, it is certainly not the same level as it was in November 2022 and we believe that we have to return to that kind of movement that we had before the protesters arrived on the road,” Klaar said.
