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EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND NAGORNO-KARABAKH
AMANDA PAUL
Today's Zaman
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnistDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=278159
April 22 2012
Turkey
Of all the EU institutions, it is the European Parliament that has
taken the lead in pushing the EU to play a greater role in the South
Caucasus, recognizing the importance of creating an essential role
for a region of considerable geostrategic importance.
In May 2010, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on "the need
for an EU Strategy for the South Caucasus." While supporting existing
EU initiatives such as the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and the
Eastern Partnership, the European Parliament called for an increasingly
active role from the EU to transform the South Caucasus into a region
of sustainable peace, stability and prosperity with an aim to enhance
the integration of these countries with European policies. While one
cannot say all of the recommendations were picked up and acted on by
the EU, the EU has progressively strengthened its ties with the region,
now negotiating Association Agreements with all three countries. These
agreements, once ratified, would substantially deepen the level of
economic and political ties between the two partners, which in turn
should help to strengthen democracy.
Turning to Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized region of
Azerbaijan, the EU, for right or for wrong, has always tried to take
a balanced approach in dealing with Azerbaijan and Armenia on this
issue. While the EU has been unable to have a seat in the negotiations
to resolve the two-decade old conflict, as this is carried out by
France, being one of the Organization for Security and Co-operation
in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group co-chairs, the EU has tried to play
a stronger role through civil society activity and has financed
confidence-building measures aimed at improving people-to-people
contacts, particularly amongst youth. Looking for additional ways in
which to help stimulate a solution, some EU actors seem to believe
there is an opportunity to use the Association Agreements to this end.
Both Azerbaijan and Armenia are interested in strengthening ties with
the EU. Negotiations on the Association Agreements were launched in
July 2010 and so far 24 out of the 28 negotiations have been closed
with Armenia, while some 13 with Azerbaijan.
Earlier this week, the European Parliament adopted resolutions on
these two Association Agreements. The parliamentary resolutions make
recommendations to the European Council and Commission on lines to
take during the negotiations. While neither is obliged to take up
the recommendations, since the Lisbon Treaty came into force the
role of the European Parliament has been strengthened, meaning that
for such agreements to come into force they also need to be signed
off on and ratified in the European Parliament as well as in the 27
national parliaments.
The two resolutions point out that the implementation of these
agreements should make the region safer, both by promoting the
peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and by making EU
support conditional on their human rights performance and democratic
reforms. While it calls on both parties to do more to bring about
a solution to the Karabakh conflict and condemns spiraling military
spending, it also calls on EU member states to stop supplying Armenia
and Azerbaijan with weapons.
Moreover, the resolutions draw a direct link between the signing of the
agreement and the progress in the OSCE Minsk Group talks on a set of
basic principles the two sides are presently working towards, stating
the negotiations on the EU-Azerbaijani and EU-Armenian Association
Agreements should be "linked to credible commitments to making
substantial progress towards the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, including, for example, confidence-building measures such as
general demilitarisation, the withdrawal of snipers from the line of
contact, the withdrawal of Armenian forces from occupied territories
surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh and their return to Azerbaijani control,
and a mechanism for active incident-prevention and the investigation
of cease-fire violations along the line of contact, the right of all
internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their home
settlements and properties and international security guarantees that
would include a genuine multinational peacekeeping operation in order
to create suitable conditions for the future legally-binding free
expression of will concerning the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh."
Indeed, in theory, using the Association Agreement to progress the
stalled Nagorno-Karabakh talks would seem like a good move. However,
the initiative was not welcomed by those in the EU's External Action
Service, by the EU special representative for the South Caucasus,
by a number of EU member states, or by Armenia. Because Association
Agreements are seen as a tool to help bring about the democratic
transformation of a country, there is fear that linking it to Karabakh
will kill both processes. Moreover, it is claimed that Azerbaijan is
not as interested as Yerevan in an Association Agreement and that it
is thereby an unfair linkage.
Nevertheless, even though the idea may not have broad EU support,
the fact the finalized Agreement would need to be ratified by the
European Parliament may have consequences in the long term.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
AMANDA PAUL
Today's Zaman
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnistDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=278159
April 22 2012
Turkey
Of all the EU institutions, it is the European Parliament that has
taken the lead in pushing the EU to play a greater role in the South
Caucasus, recognizing the importance of creating an essential role
for a region of considerable geostrategic importance.
In May 2010, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on "the need
for an EU Strategy for the South Caucasus." While supporting existing
EU initiatives such as the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and the
Eastern Partnership, the European Parliament called for an increasingly
active role from the EU to transform the South Caucasus into a region
of sustainable peace, stability and prosperity with an aim to enhance
the integration of these countries with European policies. While one
cannot say all of the recommendations were picked up and acted on by
the EU, the EU has progressively strengthened its ties with the region,
now negotiating Association Agreements with all three countries. These
agreements, once ratified, would substantially deepen the level of
economic and political ties between the two partners, which in turn
should help to strengthen democracy.
Turning to Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized region of
Azerbaijan, the EU, for right or for wrong, has always tried to take
a balanced approach in dealing with Azerbaijan and Armenia on this
issue. While the EU has been unable to have a seat in the negotiations
to resolve the two-decade old conflict, as this is carried out by
France, being one of the Organization for Security and Co-operation
in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group co-chairs, the EU has tried to play
a stronger role through civil society activity and has financed
confidence-building measures aimed at improving people-to-people
contacts, particularly amongst youth. Looking for additional ways in
which to help stimulate a solution, some EU actors seem to believe
there is an opportunity to use the Association Agreements to this end.
Both Azerbaijan and Armenia are interested in strengthening ties with
the EU. Negotiations on the Association Agreements were launched in
July 2010 and so far 24 out of the 28 negotiations have been closed
with Armenia, while some 13 with Azerbaijan.
Earlier this week, the European Parliament adopted resolutions on
these two Association Agreements. The parliamentary resolutions make
recommendations to the European Council and Commission on lines to
take during the negotiations. While neither is obliged to take up
the recommendations, since the Lisbon Treaty came into force the
role of the European Parliament has been strengthened, meaning that
for such agreements to come into force they also need to be signed
off on and ratified in the European Parliament as well as in the 27
national parliaments.
The two resolutions point out that the implementation of these
agreements should make the region safer, both by promoting the
peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and by making EU
support conditional on their human rights performance and democratic
reforms. While it calls on both parties to do more to bring about
a solution to the Karabakh conflict and condemns spiraling military
spending, it also calls on EU member states to stop supplying Armenia
and Azerbaijan with weapons.
Moreover, the resolutions draw a direct link between the signing of the
agreement and the progress in the OSCE Minsk Group talks on a set of
basic principles the two sides are presently working towards, stating
the negotiations on the EU-Azerbaijani and EU-Armenian Association
Agreements should be "linked to credible commitments to making
substantial progress towards the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, including, for example, confidence-building measures such as
general demilitarisation, the withdrawal of snipers from the line of
contact, the withdrawal of Armenian forces from occupied territories
surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh and their return to Azerbaijani control,
and a mechanism for active incident-prevention and the investigation
of cease-fire violations along the line of contact, the right of all
internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their home
settlements and properties and international security guarantees that
would include a genuine multinational peacekeeping operation in order
to create suitable conditions for the future legally-binding free
expression of will concerning the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh."
Indeed, in theory, using the Association Agreement to progress the
stalled Nagorno-Karabakh talks would seem like a good move. However,
the initiative was not welcomed by those in the EU's External Action
Service, by the EU special representative for the South Caucasus,
by a number of EU member states, or by Armenia. Because Association
Agreements are seen as a tool to help bring about the democratic
transformation of a country, there is fear that linking it to Karabakh
will kill both processes. Moreover, it is claimed that Azerbaijan is
not as interested as Yerevan in an Association Agreement and that it
is thereby an unfair linkage.
Nevertheless, even though the idea may not have broad EU support,
the fact the finalized Agreement would need to be ratified by the
European Parliament may have consequences in the long term.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress