A group of Armenian and Azerbaijani experts and practitioners who are currently working to develop a report on how confidence-building measures can support the process for peace in the South Caucasus have written to the President of the European Council Charles Michel proposing ten short, medium and long term initiatives that can contribute to current peace efforts in the region. In their letter the experts say that the EU Eastern Partnership Summit on 15 December offers an opportunity for a qualitative step forward in the process of peace in the South Caucasus.
The group, the Joint Liaison Group on confidence-building measures in support of lasting peace in the South Caucasus (JOLIG) held its first meeting in Kachreti, Georgia on 30 September 2021, and is composed of twenty experts, practitioners and activists from Armenia and Azerbaijan, who are working with the facilitation of LINKS Europe foundation and with the support of the European Union. The group is currently consulting widely in Armenia and Azerbaijan, and in the wider region, to identify and articulate concrete measures that can be implemented to consolidate peace in the South Caucasus, and will submit its final report by the end of March 2022.
In their letter to President Charles Michel, the co-rapporteurs of the Group said they are aware of the importance of the upcoming summit of Eastern Partnership countries to be held in Brussels on 15 December 2021, and wanted to propose a number of short and long term steps which can be put to the consideration of the summit.
Among the short and medium term recommendations are a number of practical ideas aimed at transforming thirty years of animosity and hatred into a process of hope, including the establishment of a regional youth centre in Georgia, the creation of a Common Cultural Heritage Foundation and suggestions for action in the areas of education, media and deradicalization. On longer term perspectives the experts call on the EU to launch a comprehensive and inclusive diplomatic initiative to lead to the signing by the end of 2030 of a South Caucasus Peace and Stability Pact that will draw a line under decades of hate and conflict in the region.
In their letter to European Council President, Charles Michel, the experts say that the EU Eastern Partnership Summit on 15 December offers an opportunity for a qualitative step forward in the process of peace in the South Caucasus and wished the summit success in its endeavours.
You may read further information on this initiative in these stories on commonspace.eu:
- Armenian and Azerbaijani experts discuss the role of confidence-building measures in support of lasting peace in the South Caucasus during a workshop in Kachreti, Georgia
- Opinion: In the South Caucasus, one year after a costly war, a glimmer of hope for peace