August 7, 2008 - 15:23 AMT
Replacement of OSCE MG French Co-chair by EU representative would do good, Baku says
Given the influence of the Armenian Diaspora in France, replacement of the country in the OSCE MG process by an EU representative would be objective and substantial, said Asim Mollazade, head of Azerbaijani Democratic Reform Party.
"The European Union has numerously come up with an initiative to join the talks and its participation is favorable for Azerbaijan," he said.
The U.S. will not oppose the Union's joining the process; however Russia and France arouse concerns, since these two states seem to take up pro-Armenian position in the Nagorno Karabakh issue, according Mollazade.
"If Azeri diplomacy works properly, the idea of engaging the EU into the negotiation process may come true," he said, 1news.az reports.
Yesterday, International Crisis Group Europe Program Director Sabine Freizer said she believes it would be expedient to replace France by an EU representative in the OSCE Minsk Group.