EU Parliament Resolution on the Humanitarian Consequences of the Blockade in Nagorno-Karabakh

18.1.2023

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Armenia and Azerbaijan,

– having regard to Rules 144(5) and 132(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and the outside world, the Lachin corridor, has been blocked by self-proclaimed environmentalists from Azerbaijan since 12 December 2022; whereas this has disrupted access to essential goods and services, including food, fuel and medication, for the 120 000 Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, effectively placing them under a blockade;

B. whereas the blockade has led to a severe humanitarian crisis, significantly affecting the most vulnerable populations; whereas the transfer of critically ill patients is nearly impossible, with one death resulting from this situation; whereas hundreds of families remain separated;

C. whereas this humanitarian crisis was further aggravated by Azerbaijan’s disruption of the natural gas supply to Nagorno-Karabakh, which left houses, hospitals and schools without heating;

D. whereas by sustaining the blockade of the Lachin corridor, Azerbaijan is breaching its international obligations under the trilateral ceasefire statement of 9 November 2020, under which Azerbaijan must guarantee the security of persons, vehicles and cargo moving along the corridor in both directions;

E. whereas the impediments to the use of the Lachin corridor set back the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan and undermine international confidence;

1. Deplores the tragic humanitarian consequences of the blockade of the Lachin corridor and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict;

2. Urges Azerbaijan to respect and implement the trilateral statement of 9 November 2020 and immediately reopen the Lachin corridor to enable free movement and ensure access to essential goods and services, thus guaranteeing security in the region and safeguarding residents’ livelihoods;

3. Underlines the need for a comprehensive peace agreement, which must guarantee the rights and security of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenian population; calls on Azerbaijan to protect the rights of Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh and refrain from its inflammatory rhetoric that calls for discrimination against Armenians and urges Armenians to leave Nagorno-Karabakh;

4. Urges Azerbaijan to refrain from undermining the functioning of transport, energy and communication connections between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh in future;

5. Strongly condemns Azerbaijan’s scapegoating of human rights defenders and CSOs and calls on EU and Member State representations to support their work;

6. Condemns the inaction of Russian ‘peacekeepers’; considers that their replacement with OSCE international peacekeepers, under a UN mandate, should be negotiated urgently;

7. Calls for international organisations to be granted unimpeded access to Nagorno-Karabakh to assess the situation and provide the necessary humanitarian assistance;

8. Calls for a UN or OSCE fact-finding mission to the Lachin corridor to assess the humanitarian situation on the ground;

9. Calls for the urgent resumption, without preconditions, of negotiations based on the principles of the Helsinki Final Act;

10. Calls for the EU to be actively involved and ensure that the inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh are no longer held hostage by Baku’s activism, Russia’s destructive role and the Minsk Group’s inactivity;