European Parliament calls for immediate unblocking of Lachin corridor

BRUSSELS (RIA Novosti): The European Parliament is concerned about the difficult humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh caused by the closure of the Lachin corridor, calls on Azerbaijan to open it immediately, the resolution adopted at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg says .

“This corridor is the only road linking the war-ravaged region with Armenia and the outside world. MEPs call on Azerbaijan to open it immediately to ensure freedom of movement, guarantee access to basic goods and services for the most vulnerable segments of the population,” the document says.

The deputies also demanded access to the region for international humanitarian organizations, as well as UN or OSCE missions . They proposed replacing Russian peacekeepers with “OSCE international peacekeeping forces.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that the issue of the Lachin corridor in Nagorno-Karabakh could be resolved in the near future. He noted that Moscow offered Baku and Yerevan the following mechanism: Russian peacekeepers should have the authority under a trilateral agreement to control traffic along the Lachin corridor, including checking vehicles for the absence of prohibited non-humanitarian, non-civilian goods.

The Russian Defense Ministry previously reported that on December 12, the Azerbaijani side blocked the Stepanakert -Goris road, the only highway that connects Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, in connection with which the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent is negotiating with representatives of Azerbaijan to resume the unhindered movement of civilian transport in this direction. The US State Department also called on the Azerbaijani side to unblock the Lachin corridor . Baku calls what is happening a protest action of civil activists and environmentalists against the “illegal activities of the Armenian side.”