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EU mediation best way to Azerbaijan-Armenia peace: German minister

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Saturday insisted that European mediation was the best option for arch-foes Armenia and Azerbaijan to reach a lasting peace agreement.

EU mediation best way to Azerbaijan-Armenia peace: German minister
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev (R) shakes hands with Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (L) during their meeting in Baku. Photo: AFP/ Azerbaijani Presidential Press Office.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Saturday insisted that European mediation was the best option for arch-foes Armenia and Azerbaijan to reach a lasting peace agreement.

The Caucasus neighbours have been locked in a decades-long conflict for control of Azerbaijan’s Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which Baku reclaimed in a lightning offensive in September.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have held several rounds of peace talks under EU mediation. Both leaders have said a peace treaty could be signed in the coming months.

On a visit to Azerbaijan, Baerbock said she had “expressed concern that with certain actors, doubts can be raised whether they really negotiate as honest brokers for peace on the ground”.

Last month, Aliyev refused to attend a round of peace talks with Pashinyan in Spain over what he said was France’s “biased position”.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had been scheduled to join EU chief Charles Michel as mediators at those talks. So far, there has been no visible progress in EU efforts to organise a fresh round of negotiations.

“The European efforts for peace offer the most concrete path,” Baerbock told journalists in Baku, speaking alongside her Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov.

She said she hoped that European-led peace talks could begin “as soon as possible”.

Bayramov confirmed Azerbaijan’s willingness to negotiate “regardless of geography”. He said Baku has tabled “peace proposals to Armenia and if Armenia accepts
them, negotiations can continue”.

Baerbock arrived in Baku from Yerevan where she also said that European moderation efforts “are a bridge and the fastest way to peace”. She has also urged Baku to ensure “a secure and dignified return” of ethnic Armenian refugees to Karabakh.

Almost the entire Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh — more than 100,000 people — fled to Armenia after Azerbaijani troops recaptured the mountainous enclave.

Bayramov said that “Armenian residents of Karabakh are full-fledged citizens of Azerbaijan, and all their rights will be respected.”

Until Aliyev refused to attend the Spain talks in October, the European Union and United States had played a lead role in mediating Azerbaijani-Armenian normalisation talks.

The traditional regional power broker Russia — bogged down in its Ukraine war — has seen its influence waning in the Caucasus.

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POLITICS

Scholz calls on coalition to ‘pull ourselves together’

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday called on his fractious governing coalition to "pull ourselves together" following a dismal showing in EU parliament elections last week.

Scholz calls on coalition to 'pull ourselves together'

In power since the end of 2021, the three parties in government — Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the liberal FDP — have been at loggerheads on a wide range of issues including climate measures and budget spending.

“I think that this is one of the entirely justified criticisms of many citizens, namely that there is too much debate” within the coalition, Scholz told German television channel ZDF on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy.

“We need to pull ourselves together and stick together to reach agreements,” he added.

“The people have the right to demand that things change,” Scholz told public broadcaster ARD.

The three parties in the coalition suffered a severe defeat in the European elections, with the SPD achieving its worst result in a national election since 1949.

Subsequently, Scholz has faced mounting criticism within his own party.

On Saturday, however, Scholz told ZDF and ARD that he was “sure” that he would be the SPD’s next candidate for the chancellorship in the parliamentary elections scheduled for autumn 2025.

In the very short term, a new test awaits the coalition, which must reach an agreement on the 2025 budget by the beginning of July.

The FDP’s finance minister is opposed to any exceptions to the rules limiting debt and to any tax increases.

On the other hand, the SPD and the Greens are opposed to cuts in social welfare or climate protection.

The debate is also focused on increasing the resources allocated to the German army.

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