What follows is the statement made by Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian at the Informal Ministerial Meeting of the OSCE held on July 11 in Mauerbach, Austria.

Mr. Chairman,

Dear Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to thank the Austrian Chairmanship and particularly Minister Sebastian Kurz for organizing this informal Ministerial discussion.

Joining efforts with a view to overcoming distrust and increasing confidence is enshrined in the birth certificate of this Organization, while dialogue and cooperation have been long identified as the instruments for achieving our common goals. We appreciate the Chairmanship’s initiative to once again apply to the foundations of the OSCE, since neither dialogue, nor cooperation can be taken as granted nowadays. We hope that this kind of discussions can contribute to reviving the true spirit of cooperation, being mindful that the most noticeable accomplishments of the OSCE have been secured through dialogue and compromise, political will and good faith.

The setbacks of our cooperation and erosion of trust do not merely limit to the existing disagreements on number of areas. Here we refer also to the abuse of the principle of consensus, the consequences of which go far beyond from damaging the trust, especially in the cases where there is none, but rather shaking the very essence of the OSCE which is designed to solve the issues through dialogue and cooperation and never through imposing the position of one participating State at the expense of all others and the entire Organization. Thus, the refusal of Azerbaijan to join the consensus on the extension of the mandate of the OSCE Office in Yerevan damages not merely the integrity of the field missions of the OSCE but its capacity of inclusive cooperation in implementing the commitments. Azerbaijan failed to respect the OSCE commitments back home and eliminated the OSCE Office in its own country before it attacked and closed the OSCE last assets in the region.

The violation and abuse of shared norms and principles do not happen in a vacuum. It does not come as a surprise that this participating State found itself alone and in isolation in challenging the OSCE Office in Yerevan.

Read full statement HERE