"I think the most important step will be that the EU puts the maximum of pressure on Azerbaijan, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former Secretary General of NATO, the founding chairman of the international political consulting organization "Rasmussen Global", said, referring to Azerbaijan's failure to comply with the ruling of the International Court of Justice to open the Lachin Corridor, in a conversation with journalists in Jermuk, Vayots Dzor, Armenia.
"The EU has made an energy agreement with Azerbaijan, and that could be used as a platform for a critical dialogue with the the government of Azerbaijan. Maybe the President Ilham Aliyev is an autocrat, like President Putin, but I don't think that President Aliyev would not like to be in the same situation as President Putin and be considered an international aggressor. That's why once again I call on President Aliyev to dissolve the blockade immediately", Rasmussen said.
Regarding the protection of people's rights and security in Nagorno-Karabakh, the former Secretary General of NATO said: "We should do everything, we should do our utmost to ensure a lasting and fair peace agreement. A very important element in that peace agreement should be the guarantee of the rights and security of the people in Nagorno-Karabakh. And we will need to have a kind of an international mechanism to monitor, control and guarantee those rights and security for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh".
Referring to Armenia-EU relations, he mentioned that they would like to cooperate very closely with the RA government.
"It is a kind of cooperation, which covers a lot of issues. Obsiously, we are speaking about political support from the EU. I think that first of all and here and now it's essential that we raise awareness of the risk of humanitarian crisis in NK. And the international community should put maximum of pressure on Azerbaijan to solve this situation.
We would like to support the Armenian government to elevate the political dialogue with the EU. And that includes also a dialogue on security policy. The EU has a broad range of tools that can be useful for Armenia. I think that Armenia needs broeader circle of international partners than today", he said, noting that the frameworks and specifics of military cooperation with Armenia were not discussed in detail. He reminded that visited Armenia more than ten years ag to thank Armenia for participation in NATO missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo.
"The EU has a European Peace Facility, that could also be a framework for cooperation between Armenia and the EU", said Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
