EU proposes plan to reopen Lachin road linking Karabakh to Armenia

BRUSSELS

European Council President Charles Michel’s office said on Friday that the EU had proposed a plan to "gradually reopen" the Lachin road linking the Karabakh region to Armenia, as well as the Aghdam-Khankendi road.

Michel’s team and the EU’s special representative for the South Caucasus, Toivo Klaar, “have been in frequent contact with Baku, Yerevan, and representatives of Karabakh Armenians to work out a solution for unblocking access” between Karabakh and Armenia, Michel’s spokesperson, Ecaterina Casinge, said in a statement.

“Michel has proposed a step-by-step approach which would reflect a sequencing in the full-fledged operation of the Lachin corridor and the opening of the Agdam route,” Casinge further said.

According to the EU’s position, “the Lachin corridor must be unblocked” in line with the decision of the Hague-based International Court of Justice, she stressed.

The EU diplomats also noted that the use of the alternative Aghdam-Khankendi road, suggested earlier by Azerbaijan, “to provide supplies can also be part of a concrete and sustainable solution to the provision of urgent and daily basic needs.”

The EU side has also argued for addressing “legacies of the conflict to facilitate a long-term sustainable resolution” beyond the current situation, Casinge explained.

Despite ongoing talks over a long-term peace agreement, tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia rose in recent months over the Lachin road, the only land route giving Armenia access to the Karabakh region.

In April, Azerbaijan established a border checkpoint to prevent the illegal transport of military arms and equipment to the region.

According to Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry, the “wide-range abuse of the Lachin road by Armenia over past three years necessitated Azerbaijan’s legitimate and legal action of establishing a border check-point.”

Armenia accused Azerbaijan of causing a “humanitarian crisis” in the region that Baku denied, proposing the use of the Aghdam-Khankendi road for shipments to the region.

Michel, who presides over meetings of EU leaders and represents the bloc in international affairs, has made significant diplomatic efforts for reconciliation between Armenia and Azerbaijan following their conflict in 2020.

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.