The European Union is concerned over the Karabakh conflict, European Parliament President Martin Schulz said when asked by an Azeri journalist whether the issue of the Karabakh conflict was really included in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) summit, RFE/RL Armenian Service reports.
Schulz hopes that the developments in the east of Ukraine will not turn into a frozen conflict. As regards Azerbaijan, Schulz said that the representative of Baku vetoed the Riga Summit declaration for a certain period. The President of the European Parliament considers such actions as senseless and shortsighted.
Schulz added that as the European Parliament President, he personally raised issues related to the situation in Azerbaijan and that he keeps stating that the European Parliament negatively assesses the course of democracy development in that country. The Government of Azerbaijan should take it into account, he said. But in any case, the EU should continue the dialogue with Azerbaijan, he added.
When replying to the Azeri journalists' remarks that the developments in Ukraine are the result of slackness in Karabakh, Martin Schulz stressed that he does not share that opinion. He stressed that each conflict has its own specificity but it does not mean that the efforts towards settlement of frozen conflicts should be stopped. He added that one should not compare the situations in two different countries. In each particular case, the solution should be found with due regard for the specific situation.
To note, Azerbaijan nearly vetoed on Friday a joint declaration adopted at the European Union's latest summit with six ex-Soviet states because of the wording of its references to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.