Kazakhstan, Astana, June 25 / Trend , K.Konirova/
The European Union (EU) will support any efforts in the Karabakh settlement, EU Special Envoy on South Caucasus Peter Semneby said at the Security Forum of the Council of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership (CEAP) in Astana on June 25.
"At present the situation in the conflict zone has a depressive character and a ceasefire does not indicate absence of problems in the settlement of this conflict," Semneby said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
A total of 30 people were killed in the conflict zone only in 2008, he said. "We should follow the situation to advance in a correct direction," he added.
"This is too bad that the EU does not seriously approach the situation, but even in this case, the steps taken by Turkey and Armenia to stabilize the situation in the region are too praiseworthy," the EU special envoy said.
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