Foreign Minister Presents Consequences of the Blocking of the Lachin Corridor at the EU

During a working visit to Brussels, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan met with David McAllister, the chair of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, as reported by the Foreign Ministry's press service.

Ararat Mirzoyan communicated the consequences of Azerbaijan's blockade of the Lachin Corridor to his interlocutor. It was emphasized that Azerbaijan aims to ethnically cleanse the 120,000 Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The minister stressed the need for increased pressure from the international community on Azerbaijan to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Nagorno-Karabakh.

In this context, the Foreign Minister highlighted the urgent resolution on the blockade of the Lachin Corridor adopted during the plenary session of the European Parliament on January 18-19, as well as the principled positions expressed in the "Implementation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy: Annual Report 2022," which objectively reflect the situation in the region.

The discussion also covered the normalization process of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Ararat Mirzoyan and David McAllister addressed issues on the Armenia-EU partnership agenda and prospects for its expansion. The work of the EU observation mission, which concluded on December 19, was also highly appreciated.

Recall that on the morning of December 12, a group of Azerbaijanis in civilian clothing blocked the Stepanakert-Goris highway connecting Artsakh to Armenia under the pretext of environmental reasons near the Shushi-Karin Tak junction. Since December 13, the Azerbaijani side has periodically cut off gas supplies to Artsakh. Currently, there is no gas in Artsakh.

As of January 9, energy supply from Armenia to Artsakh has also been disconnected from areas under Azerbaijani control. The Azerbaijani side does not allow specialists to approach and understand the reasons for this, preventing necessary emergency restoration work from being carried out. Electricity supply in Artsakh is currently provided intermittently.

The Lachin Corridor remains closed.