General documents - Joint statement by the Chair of DSCA and the Standing Rapporteurs on Armenia and Azerbaijan on positive steps towards Armenia-Azerbaijan normalisation - Delegation to the EU-Armenia Parliamentary Partnership Committee, the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Association Committee

Joint statement by

· the Chair of the Delegation for relations with the South Caucasus, MEP Marina KALJURAND,

· the European Parliament's Standing Rapporteur on Armenia, MEP Andrey KOVATCHEV, and

· the European Parliament's Standing Rapporteur on Azerbaijan, MEP Željana ZOVKO,

on positive steps towards Armenia-Azerbaijan normalisation

Strasbourg, 13 December 2023 - "We welcome the joint statement of the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan of 7 December 2023, reconfirming the two countries' intention to normalise relations and conclude a peace treaty.

The statement represents a much-needed hopeful signal of a possible better future for the region, with important goodwill gestures of both countries. We welcome in particular the announcement of the release of 32 Armenian prisoners by Azerbaijan and two Azerbaijani prisoners by Armenia and expect them to be freed soon. In the same spirit of humanism, we encourage also the release of the remaining Armenian detainees and addressing the issue of missing persons as soon as possible.