May 26, 2010 - 10:42 AMT
Anders Fogh Rasmussen: NATO doesn’t intend to interfere in Karabakh process

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the Alliance doesn’t intend to interfere in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process.

“The conflict is dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Group. Certainly, we are closely watching the process, as Nagorno Karabakh remains an issue of concert but we plan nothing but support the peace efforts of the MG,” Mr. Rasmussen at a joint news conference with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

As to the May 23 parliamentary elections in the Artsakh Republic, he said the “OSCE MG has already issued a statement and NATO will take it into consideration.”

He voiced hope that meetings between the Armenian and Azerbaijani top officials will continue and produce result.

President Sargsyan said for his part that Armenia and Azerbaijan are members of the Council of Europe. “As other European institutions, NATO is responsible for security in Europe. But it doesn’t mean that NATO will interfere in case hostilities are resumed in Karabakh,” he said.