In Yerevan OSCE Chairperson-in-Office encourages intensified negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and pledges continued OSCE support to reforms

YEREVAN, 4 June 2014 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter, on an official visit to Yerevan today commended Armenia for its close cooperation with the OSCE Office in the implementation of a broad range of domestic reforms. After his meeting with Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan, Burkhalter said that the OSCE is committed to continue supporting the country on its path of democratic reform.

Burkhalter also met with Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, the Speaker of the National Assembly Galust Sahakyan, and representatives of political parties.

When discussing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Chairperson-in-Office underlined that dialogue and confidence-building in the South Caucasus are among the priorities of the Swiss Chairmanship. According to Burkhalter, a new presidential meeting could be the starting point of a structured process leading towards a peaceful solution. Burkhalter encouraged his interlocutors to engage in intensified negotiations since “no external actor can create or impose a solution”.

Burkhalter said that he is fully aware of the complexity of the conflict and expressed his concerns that 20 years after the 1994 ceasefire, violent incidents at the Line of Contact and the international border are still a frequent phenomenon. He called the sides to strictly adhere to the ceasefire agreement, to encourage people-to-people contact and to agree on further confidence-building measures.

“There is no alternative to a peaceful settlement of the conflict,” Burkhalter stressed.

The Chairperson-in-Office reconfirmed the full support of the Swiss Chairmanship for the mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and his Personal Representative, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.

Today’s visit to Yerevan concludes the official visit of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to the South Caucasus that started in Baku on 2 June and continued in Tbilisi on 3 June.