In the frames of visit to Spain, the Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian delivered an extensive speech on the Armenian-Spanish relations, cooperation between Armenia and the European Union and Armenia’s foreign policy during the meeting organized by the well-known political science centers Club de Madrid and FRIDE (Foundation of International Relations and Foreign Dialogue). High-ranking officials of the MFA, political scientists, analysts and Ambassadors accredited to Madrid attended the meeting.

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Minister Nalbandian also answered numerous questions of the participants and had a thorough talk on the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) settlement.

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Answering to the question on the recent developments in the settlement process of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) issue, Edward Nalbandian particularly said: “The OSCE Summit held in Astana was an important phase for the settlement of the Karabakh issue. Almost all the leaders of the OSCE member-countries attended the Summit underlined the total unacceptability of the use of force or the threat of force in their speeches. The five-sided statement stated that the issue should be settled on the basis of the norms and principles of international law, the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, as well as the statements of L’Aquila and Muskoka made on 10 July 2009 and 26 June 2010.

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In Astana, it was clearly mentioned once again, that the principles and elements proposed for the settlement were conceived as an integrated whole and any attempt to select some elements over others would make it impossible to achieve a balanced solution. The OSCE Summit reaffirmed that Armenia’s approaches are in line with the position of the international community, which was also obvious during the meetings of the OSCE Foreign Ministers in Helsinki, Athens and Almaty.”

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Edward Nalbandian underscored that in spite of the Astrakhan Declaration and Astana Statement, Azerbaijan continues its destructive policy the proof of which are the recent statements made by high-ranking officials of Baku.

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“It is least doubtful that a couple of hours after the five-side statement was made in Astana, the Azerbaijani delegation refused to include it, even mention it, in the final documents of the Summit, ” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia.

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Ahead of meeting, Minister Nalbandian met with Carlos Westendorp, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain who is the Secretary General of the Club of Madrid that brings together 70 former heads of states from around 50 countries.

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During the meeting, the sides had a detailed talk on the issues of the regional and international agenda.

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Before departing from Spain, Edward Nalbandian gave an interview to the leading Spanish newspaper El Pais.