OSCE Chairperson-in-Office stresses importance of co-operation and dialogue during visit to Azerbaijan

BAKU, 5 March 2019 – Concluding his visit to Azerbaijan today, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Slovakia’s Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Miroslav Lajčák, welcomed the decrease in violence on the Line of Contact and on the international border, and discussed further perspectives for progress towards a comprehensive peace agreement for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as co-operation between the OSCE and Azerbaijan.

Emphasizing Azerbaijan’s role in the Organization, Lajčák said: “Azerbaijan is an important OSCE participating State. We are ready to explore areas for increased OSCE engagement in and with Azerbaijan across all three dimensions of comprehensive security.”

Accompanied by his Personal Representative on the Conflict Dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Conference, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, and his Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Ambassador Rudolf Michalka, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Lajčák met with the political leadership in Baku, including President llham Aliyev, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, Speaker of Parliament Ogtay Asadov, as well as representatives of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Lajčák reaffirmed the OSCE’s continued support to finding a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and to the efforts of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group as well as his two representatives, Kasprzyk and Michalka, in promoting confidence building and dialogue: “Through continuous and increasing dialogue, small improvements to the lives of the people most affected by the conflict can be made. And in this, preparing the populations for peace is an important element.”

He expressed the Slovak OSCE Chairmanship’s willingness to support small, tangible steps to promote co-operation and dialogue.

"The OSCE is encouraged by the dialogue we have seen so far. We are watching closely for signs of constructive progress and commitment, and stand ready to facilitate when needed,” Lajčák said.