Poland remains committed to its principles in the Nagorny-Karabakh (NK) problem, that is, not to arm the conflicting parties. The statement came from Ambassador to Poland to Armenia Zdzislaw Raczynski in a press conference in Yerevan when commenting on the recently opened Armenian-Polish joint venture "Lubawa- Armenia" manufacturing protective equipment for armed forces.
The Lubawa-Armenia enterprise was officially launched in the building of the Charentsavan machine- building plant, Armenia, on 16 October. The enterprise will use the technology and expertise of Poland's Lubawa SA group to produce a range of protective gear such as army helmets, flak jackets, big and inflatable tents, camouflage netting and decoys.
According to the diplomat, the Armenia-Poland cooperation in the field of defense implies cooperation also in the technical field.
"I don't think the flak jackets to be manufactured at the plant may do damage to anyone," Ambassador Raczynski said.
In this light, he said, Poland supports the OSCE Minsk Group's efforts in peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict. The ambassador is sure the conflict will be settled when all the parties concerned are ready for a peace dialogue.
"The upsurge in tensions and inflammatory rhetoric do not contribute to stability in the region and settlement of the conflict," Zdzislaw Raczynski said. Armenia and Azerbaijan are doomed to live side by side, as they cannot change their geological location, but they can change their geopolitical location, the ambassador said and called the parties for a peace agreement.
"Even The Hundred Years' War in Europe ended in an peace treaty, as there is no other way," the diplomat said.
As for the concerns that the negotiations may not continue in their current OSCE Minsk Group format as the latest downing of the Karabakh helicopter Mi-24 demonstrated that in some case security and access to the crash site is not guaranteed even for the OSCE representatives, the Ambassador said there is no other format of the peace talks.
"I don't think that Armenia seeks to change the format of the peace process. The parties should not go into extremes and overestimate the possibilities of the mediators. I do not share the views suggesting that the mediators must settle the conflict. Only the parties to the conflict can do it," the ambassador said. He recalled that the mediators should suggest possible ways to resolve the conflict, but it is the parties to the conflict that must resolve it.
Asked how impartial are the statements on equality of the parties given Azerbaijan's aggressive actions, Zdzislaw Raczynski said as a man not dealing with the military field he finds it difficult to assess the situation in the conflict zone. Anyway, he said, political statements must be well balanced not to disrupt the dialogue and the peace process.