We are very concerned by the situation regarding the OSCE Office in Yerevan, Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE Kate Byrnes said at the session of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Thursday.

In her words, this office, like all OSCE field missions and institutions, is an important element of the work done by this organization to assist participating states with the implementation of their OSCE commitments.  

“Should the Office in Yerevan be forced to close, this will reflect poorly on Azerbaijan and its government’s commitment to the OSCE. We urge the government of Azerbaijan to constructively engage in finding a compromise solution as soon as possible that will allow the office in Yerevan to remain open,” Ms Byrnes noted.

Earlier, at the meeting of the Permanent Council, the Austrian chairmanship said that one country (meaning Azerbaijan) expressed concern that the OSCE Office in Yerevan was allegedly engaged in activities that are not in compliance with its mandate.

“This concerned the demining program. This is not really a demining program, but an educational project, a training rather than mine clearance. OSCE was forced to send a mission to the region, after which the report was submitted indicating that the statements do not correspond to reality. Despite this, Azerbaijan continued to persist, and went further, saying that the office should not be engaged in activities ‘violating the interests of Azerbaijan.’ Everything was fine during 17 years, and suddenly there was a ‘threat to their interests.’ That is, Azerbaijan has undertaken a demarche against OSCE, accusing them of security threats,” the Minister explained.

In his words, the attempts to restrict the activities of the OSCE Office in Yerevan led to the fact that Azerbaijan opposed itself to the organization and found itself in a very embarrassing situation.