On July 6, European Parliament was embroiled in heated debates around the situation in Nagorno Karabakh.

In her speech at European Parliament in Strasburg, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission, Catherine Ashton characterized the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict as a “key strategic interest of the European Union.”

“The Deauville statement of Presidents Obama, Medvedev and Sarkozy made clear that the time had now come for an agreement, failing which the parties’ commitment to a solution would be questioned.

Regrettably, despite strong messages at the highest level, the expected breakthrough at Kazan on 24 June did not materialize.

President Aliyev of Azerbaijan and President Sargsyan of Armenia did not take this opportunity to reach a compromise,” Ms. Ashton noted, stressing that efforts to find an agreement on the Basic Principles must continue.

“I welcome the fact that both parties have re-committed themselves to the diplomatic process and to finding a peaceful solution,” she said.

“But we need to see more than that in the coming months. The parties need to redouble their efforts to find an agreement before the end of this year. This would then happen before domestic priorities take over in 2012: elections in Armenia in 2012, and in Azerbaijan in 2013,” EU High Representative said.