30 May, 2016, Brussels – Today the President the Armenian National Committee – International and coordinator of the worldwide network of Armenian National Committees (ANCs) Hagop Der Khatchadourian and the President of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) Kaspar Karampetian had a meeting with the Member of the European Parliament Jaromir Štětina in the European Parliament.
The meeting covered the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), in particular in the aftermath of the four-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan against the Nagorno-Karabakh people on 2 April 2016, and the strengthening of the ties between the EU and Nagorno-Karabakh.
MEP Štětina was one of the first western politicians to visit Nagorno-Karabakh shortly after the Azerbaijani armed forces attacked the people of Nagorno-Karabakh at the beginning of April and committed war crimes against Armenian civilians, including children and the elderly.
During the meeting, Mr. Štětina shared his witness account of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh in the aftermath of the Azerbaijani aggression. The Member of the European Parliament mentioned that the people of Nagorno-Karabakh had once again proven their strong commitment to living in peace and liberty. He also stated that in the past two decades the people of Nagorno-Karabakh had built a resilient and stable state, anchored in democracy and human rights, with a steadily developing economy – all prerequisites for a functioning, independent and successful state. Mr. Štětina emphasized his strong support for the right to self-determination of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Mr. Der Khatchadourian, Mr. Karampetian and Mr. Štětina also explored further avenues of cooperation between the EU and Armenia, Artsakh & the European-Armenian community.
Photo: (L-R) Hagop Der Khatchadourian, Jaromir Štětina, Kaspar Karampetian