Chairman says OSCE playing role of honest broker in southern Caucasus

YEREVAN, 25 January 2006 - On the first leg of his visit to the southern Caucasus, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, held discussions with Armenian President Robert Kocharian, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, as well as the leader of Nagorno-Karabakh, Arkady Ghoukassian.

At each meeting, the Chairman-in-Office emphasized the importance of using the current window of opportunity to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which dominates relations between Armenia and neighbouring Azerbaijan. He said he was encouraged by the recent progress made in the course of contacts between the two States at the highest level.

The Chairman-in-Office expressed hope of a favourable outcome from next month's scheduled meeting near Paris between the Presidents of both Armenia and Azerbaijan, under the umbrella of the OSCE Minsk Group, which is co-chaired by France, Russia and the United States.

"The OSCE has an important role to play as an honest broker and will continue to do so. But it is the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan who have to take a decision to move the process forward, when they sit down at the table in Paris," he added.

On the basis of his discussion with President Kocharian, Minister De Gucht said there was hope that all sides could come together on a heads-of-agreement document next month. "However nothing should be taken for granted, there are many stumbling blocks and obstacles in the way and it will take wisdom and courage on the part of both presidents to overcome them."

He cautioned that such a breakthrough could be only a beginning: "There would be a lot more work to be done to translate an agreement into a fully-fledged peace treaty, backed by international guarantees. I can promise that the OSCE is prepared to assist as much as possible in this process."

Earlier, he met Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, where he recalled that at the recent meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council, all 55 States of the Organziation had agreed the parties were now poised to make the transition from negotiation to decision from which each side could benefit greatly.

"The Belgian Chairmanship, in co-operation with the Co-Chairmen of the Minsk Group, will do everything to move this process forward. I want to invest time in this problem so that, if a solution comes about, we can ensure that it could work on the ground," Minister De Gucht added. "This is for me a fact-finding mission to get to know more about the conflict and to better understand the way that the OSCE can further help to bring about a lasting peaceful solution."

The Chairman-in-Office also had a meeting with the leader of Nagorno-Karabakh, Arkady Ghoukassyan. He told reporters afterwards that he understood the view that the region's representatives should have a direct role in the peace process.

"I can understand that view but the problem is that Nagorno-Karabakh is not internationally recognized which makes it difficult to be a party to the process at this stage. But if there is agreement between the Presidents on the basic principles, next month in Paris, then involvement of Nagorno-Karabakh in the subsequent process is an issue that needs to be addressed."

He stressed that one of the Belgian Chairmanship's priorities this year, the transport security issue, was helpful for two reasons, to achieve a better balance between the three dimensions of the OSCE, but also because, in the event of a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, ensuring free movement of persons and goods would be a very important factor for the development of the region.