NKO Does not Exist Anymore

By Nina Bachkatov

From 23 to 27 October, the EU agendas will include a large chapter about the situation in the Caucasus, first at EU Ministerial level then during an EU summit. The problem is that the main regional conflict has been settled the oldest way, at gun point. On 19 September 2023, it took 24 hours for Azerbaijan forces to push the separatist armed forces to surrender. They had never recovered from the devastating 2020 “second war” when their soldiers were shot like rabbits by a restructured Azerbaijani army equipped with Turkish drones. Almost 2 years ago, this “44 days war” which costed 6.500 lives ended in 2 stages: on 10 October with a ceasefire negotiated by Russia which did not prevent fighting to continue, albeit at a lower intensity; and on 9 November 2020, when the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents signed an armistice agreement in Moscow. 

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E.U. attempt to unlock the Karabakh Issue

The president of the EU Council Charles Michel wanted a discreet meeting; he got it, but not for the reasons he wanted. He had invited Azerbaijan president Ilham Aliev and Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinian for a trilateral meeting in Brussels on 13-14 May. But, the same week-end, all attention were on the elections in Turkey and the impromptu visits of Ukrainian president Zelensky through European national capitals – not to the stability in Caucasus. Anyway, the meeting has participated to the ‘normalisation process’. On 1 June, Pashinian and Aliev shall meet France’s Macron and Germany’s Scholz in Chisinau, on the sidelines of the summit of the European Political Community. Moscow has just reminded that the trilateral agreements it signed with Baku and Yerevan after the ‘second Karabakh war’ of 2020 remain the only basis for the settlement” of relations between the two South Caucasus countries.

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A dangerous semi-settlement in South Caucasus

By Nina Bachkatov

The military operations in South Caucasus have ended with the signature of a cease-fire by Azerbaijan and Armenia, under Russia’s auspices. The agreement provided for the deployment of 2.000 Russian peacekeepers in and around Nagorno-Karabakh; and the exchange of prisoners on the basis of an all-for-all formula. But to say that peace returned with the suspension of the military offensive is wishful thinking. Continue reading “A dangerous semi-settlement in South Caucasus”

Belarus – Armenia dilemnas

By Nina Bachkatov

With all eyes on Belarus, the latest eruption of violence in the Caucasus came as a shock. But, in fact, both crises were highly predictable due to internal and geopolitical complexities. At least they sent a strong signal to the West about the importance of geography and history over ideology. They highlight the danger of reducing the world affairs to a simplistic opposition between pro-Western and pro-Russian forces. Continue reading “Belarus – Armenia dilemnas”