A member of the European Parliament, Ioannis Kasoulides said that while the Madrid Principles on the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict call for a future determination of its final legal status through a legally binding expression of will, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is attempting to impose preconditions by declaring in every occasion that NK will not be granted any other status than 'autonomy' in the framework of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.

During a public hearing on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh at the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, EPP Group Vice-Chairman Kasoulides also criticized the Azeri President’s warlike statements. “This kind of rhetoric, the arms race, tension and incidents in the line of contact can get the situation out of control, as it happened in Georgia on 2008,” he said.

The Cypriot MEP has finally made the point on Stepanakert´s involvement in the process, saying that “the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan must get as popular support as possible to feel bold enough to proceed into an agreement... Stepanakert’s approval will be necessary for Armenia.”

OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, Ambassadors Bradke (U.S.) and Fassier (France), personal representative of OSCE CiO, ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Former EU Special Representative for South Caucasus Peter Semneby and the Managing Director of the European External Action Service for the region Miroslav Lajcak attended the hearing.