New parliamentary enquiry on Nagorno-Karabakh’s aggression, sanctions demanded

Following the debate in the European Parliament, two members of Parliament (MEPs) from two different political groups – Salvatore Pogliese and Remo Sernagiotto – that could not participate in Tuesday’s debate on Nagorno-Karabakh, have tabled a written question to Federica Mogherini, EU High-Representative/Vice-President.

In the document, they underline that the Azerbaijani attacks “are accompanied by gross violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, particularly the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977, and the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child.” They especially deplore civilian victims of the conflict, saying that “Civilian infrastructures and civilian population have been the main targets of the Azerbaijani offensive. In particular, among the first victims was a 12-year-old boy. In addition, cases of mutilation, execution and torture of civilians have been registered and documented.”

They conclude by asking Ms Mogherini if she is going “to propose sanctions to be taken against Azerbaijan, given the breaches of the above-mentioned international law and the very basis of the EU-Azerbaijan Partnership and Cooperation Agreement”. Lastly, they ask for EU’s support to “the OSCE Minsk Group proposal on the creation of a cease-fire violations monitoring mechanism, to avoid continuous breaches of this only self-regulated truce in Europe.”

European Friends of Armenia welcomes this initiative. “Written questions are an important tool of oversight, including also EU’s foreign policy” comments EuFoA Director, Mr Eduardo Lorenzo Ochoa. “More than 6 questions have been tabled on the different hostilities that Nagorno-Karabakh has suffered in the last 12 months, which shows the deep concern of the House on this matter”.

According to the European Parliament’s rules of procedure, written questions must be answered within 6 weeks of their submission.

MEP Pogliese is member of the EPP group, the largest group in the European Parliament. MEP Sernagiotto is member of the ECR group, the third biggest group in the Parliament.