Release of prisoners of war in Nagorno-Karabakh

BERN, 10 May 1996 - The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Swiss Foreign Minister Flavio Cotti, issued the following statement today on the release of prisoners of war and the second anniversary of the cease-fire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office greatly welcomes the recent release of Prisoners of War by the Parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Commending the efforts of the Russian Federation, the ICRC and the OSCE Minsk Group in this matter, he strongly hopes that this considerable progress in the humanitarian field will lead to further substantial movement ahead in the peace process.

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office furthermore acknowledges as encouraging the fact that the observation of the cease-fire by all Parties in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is marking its second anniversary on 12 May 1996. He supports the will of the Parties to respect the cease-fire. He also sees the Joint Communiqúe of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbeijan of 21 April as a positive step forward.

As it has repeatedly been underlined by the Chairman-in-Office, the political negotiations under OSCE auspices cannot continue indefinitely without quick and concrete progress on the key issues, In view of this, he intends to discuss the future of the Minsk Process at a forthcoming meeting with the Chairmen of the Minsk Group/Conference.

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, along with the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group/Conference, hopes that a sober analysis of the situation by the leaders of the Parties involved will help them to give more adequate instructions to their negotiators. Along with the laudable progress made in the humanitarian field, this ought to make possible a break-through on the crucial issues of the Political Agreement.