Not a good time to change OSCE MG format, ICG expert says

PanARMENIAN.Net - It is not a good time to change OSCE Minsk Group format having an EU representative instead of a French co-chair, because the co-chairs feel that they are very close to signing the basic principles, International Crisis Group (ICG) Europe Program Director Sabine Freizer believes.

If an agreement on "basic principles" is not reached in the coming months, the international community will have to seriously think about efficiency of negotiating format and the chosen strategy, she noted. In this context the EU will have a chance to prove itself.

On Wednesday the EU published a report - revised European Neighborhood Policy (ENP), which is under consideration of the European Parliament and other EU authorities.

The report says that the European Union is ready to enhance EU involvement in solving protracted conflicts. The EU must be ready to step up its involvement in formats where it is not yet represented, such as the OSCE Minsk Group on Karabakh conflict, the report reads.

Experts suppose that this may imply the EU involvement in the Minsk Group as a co-chair, perhaps, by replacing the French co-chair.

"There has been a discussion within the European Union about weather or not it would useful to have an EU representative instead of French co-chair," Freizer said. "But, of course, for that to happen would require also the approval by Azerbaijan and Armenia, and other two co-chairs," Trend news quoted her as saying.