Armenia: the President of the Swiss Confederation, Didier Burkhalter, reaffirms support of the Swiss OSCE Chairmanship to help find solution to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

Bern, 04.06.2014 - In the Armenian capital Yerevan, the third and final stage of his trip to the South Caucasus, the President of the Swiss Confederation, Didier Burkhalter, met with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan. The central issue on the agenda was the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. As the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Mr Burkhalter expressed his support for a meeting between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan which could form the beginning of a structured negotiation process for a peace agreement, and he called for the strict observance of the 1994 ceasefire. At the bilateral level, Mr Burkhalter signed a memorandum of understanding with Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan on cooperation between the foreign ministries of their two countries.

Mr Burkhalter concluded his visit to the South Caucasus in the Armenian capital Yerevan with political discussions. At the forefront of his meetings with President Sargsyan and the foreign minister, Edward Nalbandyan, was the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. The dispute had led to a war at the beginning of the 1990s which ended with a ceasefire agreement in 1994. Since then, the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which is co-chaired by Russia, the United States and France, has been seeking a peaceful solution. Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk (Poland) supports the three co-mediators in this process as the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.

As the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Mr Burkhalter expressed his support while he was in Yerevan for a proposed further meeting between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to form the beginning of a structured negotiation process for a peace agreement. He also called for the rigorous implementation of measures for the observance of the 1994 ceasefire. Despite the ceasefire, numerous violent incidents continue to occur along the demarcation line and the national borders. The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office made it clear that this situation is unacceptable and stressed that the Swiss OSCE Chairmanship was ready to support the Minsk Group and the parties to the conflict in their efforts to find a peaceful solution, if requested.

Switzerland is also ready to support this process after the end of its OSCE Chairmanship, if requested, within the framework of its peace policy.

Mr Burkhalter was pleased to note the good cooperation between the Armenian authorities and the OSCE office in Yerevan, thanks to which over the past year several rounds of talks were organised in connection with electoral reform, including representatives from the authorities, the political parties, civil society, the media and the international community. Mr Burkhalter also discussed the ongoing reforms to domestic politics during his meetings today with National Assembly speaker Galust Sahakyan and with opposition representatives in the Armenian parliament. Furthermore he invited Armenia to a regional civil society conference, to be organised by the Swiss OSCE Chairmanship in September in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

Bilateral agreement signed

Mr Burkhalter also discussed various bilateral matters with Mr Nalbandyan and signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the foreign ministries of Switzerland and Armenia.

Switzerland and Armenia enjoy good relations. Trade relations between Switzerland and Armenia in 2013 amounted to approximately CHF 40 million. Switzerland mainly exports pharmaceutical products, watches, jewellery and machinery to Armenia, and imports principally textiles and watch components. A mission of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) will conduct upcoming talks in Yerevan.

Within the framework of the 2013-2016 regional cooperation strategy for the South Caucasus, Switzerland is supporting a number of projects in Armenia, including for the prevention of natural disasters, the protection of vulnerable persons and support for smallholder farmers. For the four-year period it has earmarked a budget of CHF 29 million.

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