Baku, Azerbaijan, June 12
By Seba Aghayeva – Trend:
Azerbaijan and Estonia have a great potential to deepen relations, especially in education and IT, Estonian Foreign Minister Sven Mikser said June 12.
He was addressing a joint press conference with Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov in Baku.
“We believe we should work to expand cooperation in these areas,” he said. “I hope that Azerbaijan and the EU will sign an agreement on strategic cooperation. The content of the agreement is very important for us. It will also have a positive impact on Baku-Tallinn relations.”
All these issues will be vital not only during the Estonian presidency of the EU, but also within the European Union in general, according to him.
“We have an ambitious agenda for the time of the EU presidency, in particular on the withdrawal of Britain from the EU [Brexit]. All issues are important from the point of view of ensuring security in Europe,” Mikser said.
Touching upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, Estonia’s FM noted that there is no military solution to the conflict.
“Peaceful conflict resolution serves the interests of the involved parties. I believe that there is no other format but the OSCE, which will be able to make every effort to resolve the conflict.”
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.