OSCE Chairman-in-Office travels to Baku and Erewan

VIENNA, 28 February 1996 - The Swiss Chairmanship of the OSCE issued the following statement today:

On 29 February and 1 March, Swiss Foreign Minister Flavio Cotti, as Chairman-in-Office (C-i-O) of the OSCE, will meet in Baku and Erewan the Presidents and Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia as well as the representatives of Nagorno Karabakh.

The aim of the trip is a direct contact at the highest level with the parties to the conflict. The C-i-O will hand over a proposal for a package solution of several key issues of the conflict in order to give further impetus to the negotiations within the OSCE Minsk process.

This proposed package is the result of consultations among the C-i-O, the Co-chairmanship and the member states of the Minsk Group/Minsk Conference. The C-i-O attaches great attention to this proposal. He expects the parties to the conflict to study the text seriously and to take it as a basis for further negotiations.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is ripe for solution. The C-i-O is fully committed to the Minsk process and to the direct talks between the parties. However, it should be clear to the parties that intensive high-level OSCE mediation cannot proceed without early and major progress in the key questions of the conflict.

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The OSCE Minsk Group, the work of which will culminate in the convening of the Minsk Conference, is active in the process leading to a peaceful political settlement of the Nagorno- Karabakh conflict. The Minsk Group and Conference are co-chaired by Finland and Russia. The Group is also working closely with the OSCE's High Level Planning Group, which is drawing up plans for a multi-national OSCE peacekeeping force for the region.