The European Union has taken note of the statement of 5 May by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and welcomes the liberation of three more Armenian prisoners by Azerbaijan.
In that regard, it would like to echo the appeal by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs to take the required action and adopt resolute decisions to fully and expeditiously complete the exchange process for all prisoners, detainees and remains and to respect their obligations to ensure the humane treatment of detainees.
Beyond that, the European Union supports the appeal by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs to resume high-level dialogue at the earliest opportunity under their aegis and strongly encourages the parties to agree together the various parameters for implementation in the long term of a set of measures for stabilization, rehabilitation following the ceasefire and restoring trust. As the Minsk Group Co-Chairs pointed out in their statement on 13 April, this concerns, among other things, access to Nagorno-Karabakh, including for representatives of international humanitarian organizations, and the exchange of all data necessary to conduct effective demining of conflict regions.
In conclusion, the European Union reiterates its full support for the mediation format of the Minsk Group and its Co-Chairs for arriving at a final comprehensive and lasting settlement. It stands ready to contribute, including through the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Georgia, in particular to the implementation of confidence-building measures.
The European Union also reaffirms its support for the Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office and, for its part, remains fully committed to the efforts to achieve lasting peace and foster prosperous development in the region.
The candidate countries the Republic of North Macedonia*, Montenegro*, Serbia* and Albania*, the country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina, the European Free Trade Association countries and members of the European Economic Area Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, as well as Andorra, align themselves with this statement.
*The Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.