April 1, 2019 - 11:14 AMT
EU: Armenia, Azerbaijan's commitment to peace "encouraging"

The European Union welcomes the recommitment by the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to promoting an environment conducive to peace in the Nagorno Karabakh peace process, said Maja Kocijancic, Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement

On 29 March, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan andAzerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held in Vienna their first meeting under the auspices of the cօ-chairs of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group.

The recommitment by the leaders to strengthening the ceasefire and to promoting an environment conducive to peace, as well as their stated readiness to take further steps toward result-oriented negotiations, is encouraging, Kocijancic said.

"The European Union looks forward to the implementation of the Vienna agreement to develop measures in the humanitarian field, as well as of the agreement on measures to prepare the populations for peace, reached by the Foreign Ministers in Paris on 16 January 2019 and stands ready to support these efforts," the said.

The European Union reiterates its full support to the mediation efforts and proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, including through the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, as well as through civil society confidence-building measures across the conflict divide.