EU says ready to allocate five million euros for humanitarian aid to Karabakh residents
The European Union and EU member states are ready to provide the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh with additional humanitarian aid, the official representative of the Union’s foreign policy service Peter Stano told RIA Novosti.
“The European Commission has announced an additional humanitarian aid package of 5 million euros. The EU and its member states are ready to provide additional humanitarian aid,” he said.
Stano added that the EU also calls on “Azerbaijan to allow international access to Nagorno-Karabakh to ensure independent monitoring of the situation on the ground”.
“We reiterate that Azerbaijan has a responsibility to ensure the rights and security of Karabakh Armenians, including their rights to live in their own homes in dignity, free from intimidation and discrimination, as well as the right of return for displaced persons,” the interlocutor added.
Unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh, which announced its secession from the Azerbaijani SSR 35 years ago and existed as an unrecognised republic for many years after the 1992-1994 armed conflict with Azerbaijan, has announced the termination of its existence from 1 January 2024.
In September 2020, fighting resumed in Nagorno-Karabakh. With Moscow’s mediation, the sides agreed to a ceasefire. The Armenian side lost all districts around Nagorno-Karabakh and a number of territories that were part of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region. In addition, Russian peacekeepers were stationed in the region. Armenia never recognised Karabakh, and its Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in talks with the West, then at a press conference in Yerevan in May 2023, stated that Karabakh was part of Azerbaijan’s territory.
Azerbaijan launched a military operation in Karabakh on 19 September 2023, one of the aims of which was stated to be the dissolution of all organs of unrecognised Karabakh. Yerevan characterised these actions as aggression, stating that there were no Armenian units in Karabakh. A day later, with the mediation of Russian peacekeepers, a ceasefire agreement was reached, with the disarmament of Armenian formations among the conditions of the truce. Several rounds of talks between representatives of Karabakh and Baku on the integration of the region into the republic were held afterwards. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan had restored its territorial integrity.
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