EU Has Interests Here: Toivo Klaar

The EU is actively involved at all levels of the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, stated Toivo Klaar, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, in a recent interview with Voice of America. He claimed that a vivid example of this is the activities of Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, who has held four meetings in Brussels between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as his own efforts in this direction.

“The EU has its interests here. This is our neighboring region, so we clearly have an interest in a peaceful and prosperous South Caucasus. For this, it is important that we can resolve the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” he asserted.

According to him, another sign of EU activity is the deployment of an observation mission along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. “The observation mission will increase our capacity for support. Moreover, from the standpoint of the EU's physical presence here, it demonstrates our commitment to peace and stability here, as well as the seriousness with which the EU approaches its mission to help Armenia and Azerbaijan achieve a comprehensive resolution,” he noted.

Toivo Klaar expects that the observation mission will provide better information to Brussels about the situation on the ground and the existing challenges, through which it will be possible to contribute more effectively to the peace process. He emphasized that the duration of the mission is two months. The resources have been provided from the budget of the observation mission in Georgia. “We can do this for a short period of time but not for the long term,” the European diplomat informs.

“For a short period, we can allocate certain resources from the Georgian observation mission without jeopardizing the capabilities of EU observation missions and thus deploy observers in Armenia,” he highlighted.

Speaking about the information regarding war crimes during the military actions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the European diplomat noted that, according to his information, investigations are underway on both sides regarding this information. Should evidence be found, Brussels expects that the respective bodies of the countries will take legal procedural steps to punish the offenders, as they have undertaken the relevant obligations.

Toivo Klaar believes that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict negatively affects all countries in the South Caucasus. All three countries are losing economic opportunities due to this conflict, including Georgia, therefore resolving the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, reopening borders and communication, and restoring trade is beneficial for all three republics of the South Caucasus.

What impact does the Ukrainian war have on the South Caucasus? Toivo Klaar notes that there are circles here that believe that perhaps in this situation, more can be done in terms of military actions than before; however, according to him, there is predominantly a feeling of anxiety regarding this situation in the South Caucasus. “There is a feeling of anxiety regarding the ongoing war, the effects of that war, and everything that may happen after the war,” he said.

The European diplomat considers that there is a consensus in the South Caucasus regarding the impact of the Ukrainian war, which negatively affects Russia's neighbors.