The efforts aimed at the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be activated. German FM Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the aforementioned in front of the OSCE Permanent Council during the ceremony of assuming OSCE chairmanship held in Vienna.    

“As an OSCE chairing country and OSCE Minsk Group member state, Germany will exert efforts to support the Minsk Group Co-Chairmen in finding a joint solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. These aspirations should be activated,” he said.  

“We express our concern over the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the Line of Contact between the opposing forces. The weakening of tension remains a primary issue. Therefore, we support the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs in developing investigation mechanisms for the violation of ceasefire regime,” Frank-Walter Steinmeier noted.

Starting from January 2016, Germany has taken over OSCE Chairmanship from Serbia.