The beginning of 2010 was marked by the growing interest of the
European Union in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.
Europe, namely France, has always been present in the OSCE mission as one of the
co-chairing countries, trying to apply settlement efforts on equal
terms with the U.S. and Russia. For Washington, after Barack Obama's
coming to power in the USA, the South Caucasus ceased to be a priority
area. But the point is not that Washington does not want to help in
resolving the territorial controversy between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The fact of the matter is that that the U.S. is now much more
concerned about Afghanistan and Iran. The lowering of the U.S.’s
interest in the processes in the South Caucasus is also indicated by
Washington's policy of promoting Armenian-Turkish protocols without
taking into account the interests of Azerbaijan and the eight-month
absence of a permanent American ambassador from Baku.
Against the background of developments, the initiative in the regional
process has been undertaken by the EU, in particular by one of its
most politically active members, France.
France stands apart in the EU and the official Paris does not always
associate itself with the EU. Historically, the country identifies
itself with the former empire, with its own geopolitical interests,
not always coinciding with the interests of the EU. The problem of the
European Union is that its structure does not have appropriate
mechanisms for functioning as an active foreign policy player. Every
EU capital pursues its own objects, and the figures of the president
and foreign affairs minister of the European Union have nominal
influence and a low status.
Under these circumstances, France, for the first time in 20 years
assumed the role of first fiddle in the resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Since December 2009, Nicolas Sarkozy has
managed to meet and discuss the prospects of a settlement with the
presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia. Whereas the talks with
Ilham Aliyev and Dmitry Medvedev on Nagorno Karabakh were held in a
constructive way, the negotiations between Nicolas Sarkozy and Serzh
Sargsyan remained shrouded in mystery. After the meeting with his
French counterpart, President Sargsyan felt unwell, says the
opposition Armenian newspaper Haykakan Jamanack and a news conference
by the two presidents, arranged for after the meeting was cancelled.
However, Sarkozy himself after the meeting expressed concern about the
path of the peace process and urged the parties to compromise for the
resumption of “the peace dynamics”. According to Sarkozy, “the
initiative launched in that direction half a year ago has weakened.”
In a word, Sarkozy was disappointed. The positive dynamics of
negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh between the sides of the conflict has
declined significantly this year and the updated Madrid principles,
approved by all the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk group and
accepted by Azerbaijan, became the stumbling block in negotiations.
The presidents of Russia and France, along with the U.S. president,
being the heads of the co-chairing countries of the Minsk Group, have
signed a joint statement on Nagorno-Karabakh. They urged Baku and
Yerevan to overcome their remaining disputes and bring to a conclusion
the work on a joint agreement on the resolution of the issue.
According to the presidents of Russia, the United States and France,
accord between the Azerbaijani and Armenian authorities should be
achieved on the basis of the principles of the Madrid Agreement of
2007.
During the meeting of presidents Medvedev, Sargsyan and Aliyev, which
took place in January in Sochi, the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk
Group presented an updated version of the Madrid principles, about
which the sides were to submit their proposals in two weeks to the
presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani side said that
it was in general satisfied with the updated version of the document.
"The adoption of the updated Madrid principles of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution by
Azerbaijan means choosing the peaceful way to the conflict’s
settlement,” Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov said.
However, the process is hampered by the Armenian side, which
apparently did not expect Azerbaijan to consent to the settlement on
basis of the Madrid document. Taking this into consideration, it is
possible that a tough conversation took place between Sarkozy and
Sargsyan, which is to bear fruit soon. In this connection, it is no
wonder that Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met with the
co-chairmen and that the Madrid Group met with the Azerbaijani foreign
minister in Paris. Nalbandian held talks with Yuri Merzlyakov, Bernard
Fassier, Robert Bradtke, the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group, and
with the personal spokesmen of the current OSCE head, Andrzej
Kasprzyk, on a settlement to the conflict and the possibility of the
co-chairmen’s forthcoming visit to the region, stating that conflict
resolution is impossible without the direct participation of the
Nagorno-Karabakh authorities in the process.
Emma Tariverdiyeva, Baku. Exclusively for VC
