YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German parliament, the Bundestag, Michael Roth has called on the EU to act quickly to prevent ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh and an attack on Armenia’s territory.

“The EU strategy of equidistance between Armenia and Azerbaijan has failed. We must now act quickly and decisively to prevent ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh and an attack on Armenia’s  territory. This is the only language that autocrats like Aliyev understand: The EU needs to get a political and economic sanctions regime in place as soon as possible to bring Baku back to the negotiating table. I welcome the ceasefire, but it should not be used to displace civilian population in Nagorno-Karabakh.  We should significantly strengthen the EU civilian mission EUMA to further monitor the entire - border and line of contact to stabilize the situation and identify possible Azerbaijan attacks on Armenian territory.  We must support the young but fragile democracy in Armenia and bring it closer to the EU. Ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh may contribute to the downfall of Armenian democracy. Visa liberalization would be a first important step towards rapprochement,” Roth said on X.

In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Roth said that a clear message must be sent to Baku that the aggression won't be tolerated. “Naturally this includes revision of economic relations, if a country with whom we conduct trade is resorting to military force,” he said.