YEREVAN. – German Council on Foreign Relations analyst Stefan Meister responded to the questions posed by Zhamanak daily.

“How would you evaluate the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ official statements on Ramil Safarov’s extradition?

The statements were very weak and did not express Azerbaijan’s principled violation of international law. This also shows that the Minsk Group is incapable of give a corresponding assessment on those violations that are taking place in the context of the [Nagorno-]Karabakh conflict. First and foremost, this showed the Minsk Group’s weak and helpless status and the different interests of the parties within the Group.   

Will Safarov’s extradition change the status quo in South Caucasus? 

Safarov’s case will flame the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It also will not assist the Karabakh peace process. The EU lost trust with its member state Hungary in the domain such as the rule of law, and this later will weaken the EU’s role in the negotiation process.    

How will Ramil Safarov’s extradition reflect on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

I don’t see changes in the status. The created situation will further complicate any peaceful settlement process, and it will encourage many among the two parties to do what Safarov did. [And] This will result in violations, which will flare the conflict,” Zhamanak quotes Stefan Meister.  

Armenian News-NEWS.am reported earlier that Ramil Safarov, a lieutenant in the Azerbaijani military, was extradited on August 31 from Hungary, where he was serving a life sentence—and with no expression of either regret or remorse—for the premeditated axe murder of Armenian lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan, in his sleep, during a NATO Partnership for Peace program in Budapest back in 2004.

As expected, Ramil Safarov’s return to Baku was welcomed, as was his act of murder, by the officials of president Ilham Aliyev’s government and much of Azerbaijani society, and the Azerbaijani president immediately granted him a pardon.

And Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan announced on August 31 that Armenia is suspending its diplomatic ties with Hungary.    

Ramil Safarov’s pardoning is condemned by virtually all international organizations.