The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde, has called on Azerbaijan to release Armenian prisoners of war, resume negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship, and reach a political solution. Linde said this at a press conference, responding to an observation by Armenpress that Armenian society is disappointed with the OSCE’s passive stance during the Nagorno-Karabakh war, and to the question of whether the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office shares the Azerbaijani president’s view that the NK conflict has been resolved.
“I do not agree that the OSCE is not making enough effort on the conflict issue, on what is happening in Nagorno-Karabakh. I have a special representative who is very active. I personally met with him yesterday to discuss the situation. We have the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship, co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France, which are trying to take very positive steps,” Linde said, noting that they nevertheless had limited access to the region last year due to the Corona pandemic and other reasons.
The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office recalled that in mid-June there was an agreement to return 15 Armenian prisoners of war to Armenia, and Azerbaijan provided Armenia with maps. In her view, this happened thanks to Georgia’s valuable role, the excellent cooperation of the United States, as well as the Council of Europe, the European Commission, and the Swedish co-chairmanship of the OSCE.
“In my statement, I called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to take a positive step by releasing all remaining detainees and resuming negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship, as well as finding a political solution with the involvement of Andrzej Kasprzyk, since there is still no peace agreement,” Linde said.
