The title was changed and the European Parliament's comments were added
Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 22 / Trend E. Ostapenko /
The European Parliament member (MEP) Tomasz Poręba's visit to the occupied territories of Nagorno-Karabakh is of a private character. The EU legislative body bears no responsibility for this, a diplomatic source in the European Parliament told Trend.
"There is a big difference between the visits of individual MEPs on their individual initiative, which is their own responsibility, and the official European Parliament's delegation, which are mandated by the European Parliament. In that case the European Parliament is responsible," a source said.
He said that it was Poręba's own initiative to visit the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
MEP, the keynote speaker on Armenia, Tomasz Poręba, is on a visit to Nagorno-Karabakh from Dec.19, where he is holding meetings with the leadership of the unrecognized republic and discussing issues concerning the resolution of the Karabakh conflict, the situation in the region and bilateral relations, the Armenian media outlets reported.
The opposite side was informed that this incident caused serious protest of the Azerbaijani side. It was reported that it was undesirable for foreign citizens to pay illegal visits to the Azerbaijani occupied lands because they show disrespect to sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
In this regard, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on Tuesday presented a protest note to the head of the EU delegation in Azerbaijan, Roland Kobia, and Polish ambassador Mikhal Labenda.
A request was made to the EU institutions and the Polish government to take the necessary measures of preventing further similar inflammatory steps directed to further deteriorate the situation in the region.
Neither the European Parliament, the EU delegation in Azerbaijan, nor the Polish embassy has voiced an official position on the incident. The European Parliament is closed for Christmas holidays until January 10.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces 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 peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.