Paris, Aug. 29, (dpa/GNA) – In an attempt to defuse the humanitarian situation in the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region in the South Caucasus, France’s President Emmanuel Macron is setting his sights on new diplomatic efforts.
The Nagorno-Karabakh region, which lies in Azerbaijan but whose population is largely Armenian, has been contested by the two former Soviet countries for decades.
Macron said on Monday, “We will demand full compliance with the humanitarian Lachin Corridor and we will again take a diplomatic initiative along these lines at the international level to increase the pressure.”
Azerbaijan has blocked the Lachin corridor, Armenia’s only access to the region. Experts have warned that the humanitarian situation is disastrous, with medicine and food not being able to flow freely into the region.
Macron announced talks with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
“The humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is currently worrying,” Macron said.
In the 1990s, the region broke away from Azerbaijan in a bloody civil war. But in 2020, Azerbaijan, which has a superior armed forces, regained control over a large part of the territory after renewed fighting.
Despite a ceasefire, fighting has continued, spreading to other border areas of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The Council of Europe, which is separate from the European Union, monitors human rights in its 46 member states, also expressed its concern on Monday.
“The humanitarian and human rights situation in the area has reportedly further deteriorated, affecting particularly the most vulnerable, due to the prolonged disruption in the movement of people and access to food supplies and urgent medical care,” said Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Dunja Mijatović.
GNA