Armenia and Azerbaijan closer than ever to peace treaty – Toivo Klaar

Toivo Klaar, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, commented on the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia in an interview with the Azerbaijani media.

“We have appreciated the leaders’ and other interlocutors’ interest in keeping us appraised of both the political developments in the region as well as of developments in the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We have also exchanged views on how to best seize and support opportunities to foster peace in the region and thus my visits have facilitated EU high-level efforts to support the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Klaar said.

He noted that while international involvement in the peace talks has been more limited over the past months than it was in the two years before, they have been happy to note the progress that has been achieved in the bilateral Armenia-Azerbaijan meetings.

“We have welcomed and commended positive developments, such as the Joint Statement of December 7, 2023 on COP29 and releases of prisoners, or the border deal of April 19, 2024 that reaffirmed the importance of the 1991 Almaty Declaration as a basis for future border delimitation work, as well as the subsequent delimitation and demarcation that was carried out on the ground. These have created a favorable environment for the conclusion of a long-awaited peace treaty and, as far as I understand, the sides are now closer than ever to an agreement that, with political will, could be signed very soon.

The signing of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will have a tremendous impact on the two countries and the entire region. It will create a completely new situation, where opportunities for trade and economic interaction will increase automatically. The Azerbaijani and Armenian populations will for the first time have the opportunity to look differently towards their future.

This will also impact how the EU can operate in the region, as it will enable us to engage in more regional cooperation including all three South Caucasus countries. As has been said on many occasions, the EU is ready to support dividends for peace in all sectors through different instruments, with a particular emphasis on regional connectivity and transport, depending on the agreements between the parties,” he said.