Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Swedish Foreign Minister said the opening of the Swedish embassies in Baku and Yerevan will pave the way for Sweden to play an active role in the region.

The opening of the embassies will also create the right conditions for Sweden to continue being a driving force in the development of EU policy towards its eastern neighborhs in Europe, the Eastern Partnership, Carl Bildt said on March 4.

Following a decision taken by the Swedish government in June 2013, Sweden opened its new permanent representations in Azerbaijan's and Armenia's capitals on March 3.

Sweden's decision to open its embassy in Baku was noted at the meeting of a delegation headed by Secretary General for Trade of the Swedish Foreign Ministry Gunnar Oom with Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov during a visit to Azerbaijan in 2013.

Meanwhile, U.S. co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick expressed his happiness at the opening of the Swedish Embassy in Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Warlick also said on his Twitter page that the U.S. and Europe are committed to peace and security in the South Caucasus region.

He said his country will continue working with Russia and France on obtaining peace in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict based on non-use of force, territorial integrity, and self-determination.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

The UN Security Council's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France, and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.