Armenia`s premier on major obstacles to peace agreement with  Azerbaijan 

ArmInfo.Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the Prague Center for Transatlantic Relations,  where he gave a speech and answered the questions of representatives of expert circles. The meeting was attended by Tom s Pojar, National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic,  Alexandr Vondra, the director of the center, and members of the Czech Parliament.

In his speech, the Prime Minister, in particular, noted.

"I am pleased to be here today and address this distinguished  audience. And I would like to express my appreciation to Mr.  Alexander Vondra and his team for organizing and moderating this  event.

"Armenia has traditionally friendly relations with the Czech Republic  based on common values and is willing to enhance our cooperation in  all areas of mutual interest. My visit coincides with the 30th  anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between our  countries. During the past 30 years, Armenia and the Czech Republic  have developed a solid bilateral agenda covering a wide range of  areas, including active political dialogue and partnership in  different fields of mutual interest.

"Today I would like to speak about Armenia's democratic journey in a  region that has been marked by turbulence and uncertainty and to  share with you Armenia's progress towards building a stable democracy  in the face of many challenges.

"Armenia's commitment to democratic development is a result of the  non-violent revolution in 2018, which was inspired, among others, by  the principles of the Velvet Revolution in former Czechoslovakia, led  by Vaclav Havel.

"After the revolution, my government initiated wide-ranging  democratic reforms that included the fight against corruption, the  shadow economy and economic monopolies. We have safeguarded the  freedom of speech and expression and turned the page of falsified  elections, ensuring that the free expression of citizens' will is the  only legitimate source of power.

"As a result, we have been able to achieve impressive economic  growth: 7.6 percent in 2019, 5.7 percent in 2021, and 12.6 in 2022.  The number of workplaces grew by around 32 percent in 2022 over 2017.  Tax revenues grew by over 66 percent in 2022 over 2017. Armenia's  sovereign rating has been upgraded. So have Armenia's international  rankings in respect of economic and democratic performance, most  notably regarding the freedom of expression and respect for human  rights.

"My country currently leads the "Democracy and Good Governance"  rating table among the EU Eastern Partnership states in the following  5 areas: fight against corruption, independent judiciary, freedom of  opinion and expression, freedom of assembly and association,  independent media and democratic rights, elections and political  pluralism.

"Nevertheless, the Armenian people's trust in democracy is undermined  due to the security challenges faced by Armenia in recent years.

"In September 2020, Azerbaijan unleashed a war against Nagorno  Karabakh.

"In May 2021, it invaded the sovereign territory of the Republic of  Armenia, and in September 2022, initiated a new large-scale attack  against Armenia, occupying some more of our sovereign territory.

"These events took thousands of lives, destroyed civilian  infrastructure, and caused many people to go missing, in addition to  those held captive by Azerbaijan to this very day.

"Dozens of thousands of Armenians have been forced to move out of  their homes in Nagorno Karabakh, joining the hundreds of thousands  that had become refugees because of Azerbaijan's decades-long  Armenophobic policies.

"As it is widely known, the 2020 November trilateral statement  legally stipulates that the Lachin Corridor must serve as a link  between Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. However, in gross violation of  the said statement, from December 2022 Azerbaijan has imposed an  unlawful blockade in the Lachin Corridor, causing a humanitarian  crisis in Nagorno Karabakh. Moreover, despite the interim measures  ordered by the ICJ in February 2023, Azerbaijan unlawfully set up a  check-point in the Lachin Corridor, further escalating the situation.

"Azerbaijan not only has deprived the people of Nagorno Karabakh of  the right to freedom of movement, but also has disconnected the  supply of natural gas and electricity. There is a shortage of food  and essential supplies in Nagorno Karabakh, and they are currently  sold through coupons.

"Our belief is that these are not isolated actions, but  rather-Azerbaijan's preparation for ethnic cleansing of Nagorno  Karabakh. In this sense, we consider it necessary to dispatch an  international fact-finding mission to Nagorno Karabkh and the Lachin  Corridor; the international community needs to make a clear and  pointed assessment of the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh.  This is important for not only the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh, but  also the future of democracy in our region, because the main question  hanging in the air in the Republic of Armenia is WHETHER democracy  can ensure security and stability in our region.

"In spite of all this, our perception of this situation is guided  primarily by the following democratic considerations: there is no  alternative to peace in our region. On the sidelines of the First  Summit of the European Political Community held here in Prague in  October 2022, we laid a solid foundation for achieving peace in our  region, during the four-party meeting between French President  Macron, President of the European Council Michel, Azerbaijan's  President, and myself.

"The main outcome of that meeting was that Armenia and Azerbaijan  recognize each other's territorial integrity with the territories  that the two republics had when gaining independence from the Soviet  Union, as per the 1991 Almaty Declaration, which will be the basis  for the subsequent delimitation of the borders.  This understanding  was reaffirmed during the trilateral meeting held in Sochi on 31  October 2022, where the sides underlined that the outstanding issues  between Armenia and Azerbaijan must be resolved only on the basis of  the 1991 Almaty Declaration and the UN Charter, renouncing the use of  force or the threat of force.

"Nevertheless, Azerbaijan continues its policy of threatening the  territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia and using force and  the threat of force, constantly escalating the situation on the  border with Armenia, as well as in Nagorno Karabakh.

"Despite all this, Armenia remains committed to the policy of  resolving the outstanding issues through negotiations, and we are  ready to sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan.

"At the moment, the main obstacles to signing such an agreement are  the following: it has so far been impossible to agree upon language  that will clearly state that Azerbaijan recognizes the territorial  integrity of the Republic of Armenia with 29 thousand 800 square  kilometers.

"The mechanism for safeguarding the rights and security of the  Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh is still uncertain; so is the  Stepanakert-Baku dialogue format, which in our opinion should take  place in the framework of an international mechanism.

"It has so far been impossible to agree upon mechanisms for  overcoming differences in the reading of the peace agreement text.

"And finally, there is no agreement on international mechanisms for  implementing the peace agreement.

"We do, however, continue our efforts in order to succeed in all  these areas. For four days now, Armenian and Azerbaijani delegations,  with facilitation by the United States, have been negotiating in  Washington for resolving all these issues.

"To conclude, I would like to highlight that as a result of the  four-party meeting held in Prague on 6 October 2022, an important  development occurred in the Armenia-EU relationship. It was decided  to deploy a short-term monitoring mission of the EU on the  Armenia-Azerbaijan border, which later evolved into a decision to  deploy a long-term mission that started operating in Armenia in  February.

"I would like to thank the Czech Republic for supporting this  decision, which is yet another manifestation of support to Armenia's  democracy.

"Thank you for your attention. And we can now take some questions".

"Next, the Prime Minister answered a number of questions from the  audience, which related to the humanitarian crisis in  Nagorno-Karabakh, negotiations with Azerbaijan, processes taking  place in the South Caucasus and other topics."