The EU calls on Azerbaijan to ensure that the ICRC can resume activities in the Lachin corridor

BRUSSELS, 12 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The European Union (EU) has expressed this Wednesday its “firm support” for the activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and has asked Azerbaijan to guarantee that the organization can resume its operations in the Lachín corridor, after that Baku “temporarily” suspended traffic at a “border post” in the area after denouncing “smuggling” in NGO vehicles.

“The EU strongly supports the activities of the ICRC as the only major humanitarian organization present in the South Caucasus. It is providing crucial humanitarian aid and protection to people in need, in line with the humanitarian principles of neutrality, independence and impartiality,” said the EU’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Nabila Massrali.

Thus, he stressed that “his work in the Lachín corridor has been focused exclusively on delivering essential goods to the Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh and much-needed humanitarian aid.” “It is the responsibility of the Azeri authorities to ensure that the ICRC can continue its operations and avoid a potential humanitarian crisis.”

“The EU strongly supports the crucial role of the ICRC in the region and reiterates its call on Azerbaijan to guarantee the unrestricted movement of people and goods through the Lachin corridor,” Massrali said, according to a statement published by the European Service. of Foreign Action.

The Azeri State Border Service indicated in a statement that its employees “have repeatedly detected during the last period attempts to smuggle various goods into ICRC vehicles”, before pointing out that “despite the fact that the ICRC was warned of this through official channels, the illegal actions continued and the necessary steps were not taken to prevent it”.

For its part, the ICRC said that it “is aware of the concerns about the transport of unauthorized goods” in the Lachín corridor and stressed that “it does not support these activities”, although it stressed that “no unauthorized material has been found in any vehicle owned by the ICRC”.

“We regret that, without our knowledge, four hired drivers tried to transport commercial goods in their own vehicles, which temporarily displayed the ICRC emblem,” he said, while arguing that “these people were not part of the ICRC staff and their contracts have been terminated immediately.”

The Azeri Border Guard announced in April the installation of a “border post” in the Lachin corridor in response to the “transportation of Armenian personnel, ammunition, mines and other military equipment to illegal Armenian armed groups in Azerbaijan”, accusations rejected by Yerevan.

Both countries have exchanged in recent months numerous accusations of violation of the 2020 ceasefire, which ended the Second Nagorno Karabagh War –after that of 1994–. The conflict ended in victory for Azerbaijan, which recovered territories taken by Armenia in the First Nagorno Karabagh War, including the important city of Shusha.

Since then, both countries have maintained various contacts to try to sign a peace agreement, although the talks have encountered various obstacles, including the situation around the Lachín corridor, which connects Armenia with the self-proclaimed republic of Arstaj. The area has the presence of Russian soldiers deployed as peacekeepers under the aforementioned ceasefire agreement.