“The important point in the current process of the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict is to reach agreement on six basic principles and after that to proceed to the discussion of the details”, Sabine Freizer, Europe Program Director, International Crisis Group, said in her interview with Armenia’s Zhamanak newspaper. She said both sides came to common idea on the basic principles, but uncoordinated details prevented the progress. Freizer said it wouldn’t be correct to expect progress in the negotiations in the next two years and emphasized the importance of support of all level of the contacts between the two countries. Touching upon the OSCE Minsk Group’s activity, Sabine Freizer said its mission failed. “The OSCE Minsk Group failed to mediate the settlement of the conflict. Currently the influence of Medvedev, Sarkozy, Obama and Clinton on the negotiation process is less convincing and therefore I consider that we get into difficulty in the negotiation process”.

The International Crisis Group’s representative thinks that the European Union can’t replace the Minsk Group, but it can contribute to the confidence-building between the sides. Sabine Freizer also criticized French President Nicolas Sarkozy for his “genocide” statement in Armenia. She said it was not a successful diplomatic move for the mediator country.

Freizer highly appreciated the election of Azerbaijan as the non-permanent member to the UN Security Council. “I think Azerbaijan became a regional, even global force and realizes what influence and confidence it should gain in the world. First, the Eurovision contest will be held in Azerbaijan next year and the second, Azerbaijan became the non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. It shows that Azerbaijan wants to be an influential and important player in the international arena”.