"Frozen Nagorno-Karabakh conflict" phrase thrown into dustbin of history Decision by Euronest Parliamentary Assembly PHOTO

The Azerbaijani delegation has succeeded in excluding the phrase "frozen Nagorno-Karabakh conflict" from the report of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly Committee on Political Affairs, Human Rights and Democracy.

The report prepared by the Committee on Political Affairs, Human Rights and Democracy reflects regional security issues. At the proposal of Azerbaijan, amendments to the report were approved by the majority of votes. In particular, the phrases "frozen Nagorno-Karabakh conflict", "reference to the Alma-Ata Declaration in delimitation of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border", "peace negotiations should be conducted only with the mediation of Brussels" were excluded from the document, Report informs.

Instead, the report reflected calls to support the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia and to observe the norms of international law.

Milli Majlis members Tahir Mirkishili, Tural Ganjaliyev, Nurlan Hasanov, who addressed the discussions, noted the exceptional role of Azerbaijan in the establishment of security in the region, emphasized the importance of signing a peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan, opening regional communications.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan will chair the Committee on Social Affairs, Employment, Education, Culture and Civil Society of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly (PA).

At the 11th session of the Parliamentary Assembly in Brussels, reports of the committees were heard, new chairmen were elected and the topics of the next reports were defined.

Azerbaijan took over the chairmanship of the Committee on Social Affairs, Employment, Education, Culture and Civil Society for the next year.

Head of the Azerbaijani delegation Tahir Mirkishili was elected chairman of the Committee.

Apart from that, the Azerbaijani delegation protested the biased report by a member of the European Parliament at the meeting of the Committee on Energy Security of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly in Brussels.

As meetings with the parliamentarians aimed at finding a compromise option failed to yield results, the report was removed from the agenda.

Speaking at the discussion, MPs Vugar Bayramov, Iltizam Yusifov and Razi Nurullayev highlighted Azerbaijan's role in energy security and construction of new energy infrastructure, the importance of transition to "green energy", what contribution the upcoming COP29 conference in Azerbaijan will make.

Suggested by Azerbaijan, the theme of the report was chosen for the next meeting - "The paradigm of interconnected energy system challenges for a more sustainable future in the Eastern Partnership countries".

The Committee meeting also saw Armenian protests which could not prevent the adoption of Azerbaijan's proposal in the Euronest PA.

The topic of the report presented by the Azerbaijani delegation at the regular session of the Euronest PA Committee on Employment, Education, Culture and Civil Society sparked a protest from the Armenian side.

Co-chairman of the meeting, chairman of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) Committee on Economic Policy, Industry and Entrepreneurship Tahir Mirkishili highlighted the proposals from the Azerbaijani, Ukrainian, Georgian delegations and member of the European Parliament (MEP) Juozas Olekas, Trend reports.

Addressing the meeting, MP Soltan Mammadov noted that the issue of social, economic and environmental problems caused by the mine threat in the Eastern Partnership countries, proposed by the Azerbaijani delegation for the report to be presented at the next meeting of the Euronest PA Committee, reflects one of the topical problems of global importance.

He mentioned that more than 70 countries across the world suffer from the mine problem. The cost of producing one unit of mine ranges from 3 to 100 US dollars, while the cost of mine clearance can range from 300 to 1,000 US dollars.

"It restricts people's freedom of movement, poses a serious threat to their life and health, and causes them fear and stress. Mines are also a source of serious danger to the environment, disturbing the ecological balance, preventing the greening of the planet. Azerbaijan is one of the most mine-affected countries. Between November 10, 2020 and March 15, 2024, 346 people suffered from landmines in the territories liberated from occupation, 65 of them died," Mammadov said.

It was proposed to combine the proposal of the Ukrainian delegation on social adaptation of IDPs in the Eastern Partnership countries with the topic presented by the Azerbaijani side.

The members of the Armenian delegation protested against the discussion of the topic of mine danger. MP Maria Karapetyan expressed concern that Azerbaijan would allegedly "use this topic against Armenia", saying that Armenia had provided mine maps.

Nurlan Hasanov, a member of the Azerbaijani delegation, said that the level of accuracy of the mine maps presented by the Armenian side is rather low.

Despite protests from the Armenian delegation, the topic proposed by the Azerbaijani and Ukrainian delegations was adopted by a majority of votes.