EU position on Armenian POWs is clear: "They need to be returned"

PanARMENIAN.Net - The position of the European Union on the Armenian prisoners of war being held in Azerbaijan is very clear, Lithuanian Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis told a press conference with his Armenian counterpart Ara Aivazian in Yerevan on Monday, April 26.

"It's been a very clear EU position that all the remaining prisoners of war and other detainees need to be released and returned to Armenia if we expect any sort of confidence-building. And I fully concur with the EU position," Landsbergis said.

Several dozen Armenian POWs have returned from Azerbaijan so far, although Armenian officials say many more people were being held in Baku. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev claims, however, that persons being kept in Baku are not prisoners of war but “terrorists and saboteurs”. Officials and human rights advocates from the Armenian side, however, maintain Azerbaijan is still holding hundreds of people hostage, pledging to submit evidence proving the capture of said persons to international agencies and courts.