YEREVAN, APRIL 13, ARTSAKHPRESS. OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Foreign Minister of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani said that the OSCE Minsk Group – the only organization with an international mandate for the Nagorno Karabakh conflict resolution, is currently frozen.
“…the Minsk Group is frozen at the moment but I cannot deny that there might be a role for the Minsk format when the circumstances will be appropriate,” Osmani said at a joint press conference with Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan, commenting on Azerbaijan’s claims that the Minsk Group has expired and the NK conflict doesn’t exist anymore.
“Minsk format was established formally with the Bucharest summit of the OSCE and is formally there and we support Minsk Group,” he said.
“However, we are aware of the opposing assessments of some of the parties on its work, as well as changed geopolitical circumstances stemming from the war of Russia in Ukraine, has changed the dynamic between the co-chairs. So we don’t have collective gathering of the co-chair to formally conduct their job. So as you said the Minsk Group is frozen at the moment, but I cannot deny that there might be a role for the Minsk format when the circumstances will be appropriate. However, OSCE is not only Minsk Group, OSCE has many other instruments and mechanisms that can be introduced in order to support the peace process between Armenians and Azerbaijanis, and I’m here to promote and to contribute to that peace process by offering that unique versatile toolkit of the OSCE in confidence building, in reconciliation as well as on promoting peace process achieving a comprehensive sustainable settlement between the two countries.”
