I Urged the Azerbaijani Side to Ensure Free Movement: Dutch Foreign Minister on the Situation in Lachin

Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra agrees that the blockade of the Lachin corridor will lead to a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh. Hoekstra expressed this concern while responding to questions from MPs Agnes Mulder and Don Ceder regarding the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan.

The statement notes that in his letter to parliament on February 10, 2023, Foreign Minister Hoekstra mentioned that the Netherlands is providing humanitarian aid to Nagorno-Karabakh through the EU with the support of the Red Cross, as only the Red Cross has access to Nagorno-Karabakh via the Lachin corridor. The minister wrote that the Netherlands has called on the Azerbaijani authorities to fulfill the provisions of the tripartite agreement during various negotiations and statements.

“On January 19, 2023, I spoke by phone with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. During my conversation with my Azerbaijani counterpart, I conveyed my concerns about the humanitarian situation and urged the Azerbaijani side to ensure free movement. On the same day, within the framework of the World Economic Forum, the Prime Minister sent the same message to Azerbaijani President Aliyev,” the federation of Armenian organizations in the Netherlands quotes Wopke Hoekstra.