Italy for more OSCE observers in Nagorno-Karabakh

Moscow, Feb 2 (IANS/AKI) Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano on Thursday held that sending more Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe observers to the Azerbaijan-Armenia border will hasten a settlement of the conflict over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, reports said.

"We think that any form of organisational support will be extremely useful for achieving the set goals," Alfano said at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov here, according to regional news agency Trends.

Italy is the chairman of OSCE this year.

"We think that the issue is a rather important and positive step. This is one of the phenomena that will be visible and significant support for speeding up the settlement process," said Alfano.

Efforts to secure a permanent settlement of the conflict in the South Caucasus, which is criss-crossed by oil and gas pipelines, have failed despite mediation led by France, Russia and the US, known as the OSCE Minsk Group.

"We support the work of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. We continue the policy of the previous OSCE chairing country (Austria) and think that this is fair," said Alfano, adding that OSCE intends to contribute to the creation of conditions for resolving protracted conflicts, Trends reported.

Military clashes over control of Nagorno-Karabakh, which lies inside Azerbaijan but is controlled by ethnic Armenians, have intensified in recent years and turned into a violent flare-up of the conflict in April 2016.

--IANS/AKI

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