French delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) calls on protecting the population of Nagorno-Karabakh and prevent degradation of the situation.

In his speech at the session of the PACE, the delegate emphasized that the issue of prisoners of war needs to be solved by goodwill, adding that dozens of Armenian soldiers remain in captivity and that the complaints to the European Court of Human Rights are multiplying.

Delegate Bernard Fournier informed that the conflict has left its traces and that the PACE needs to help the conflicting sides lead the dialogue. He added that the issue of prisoners of war is very complicated since Armenia believes that not all prisoners of war have been released and that he would like for Azerbaijan to release all the prisoners of war.

According to him, what is also troubling is the issue of unexploded ammunition and demining, as well as the fact that some Armenian refugees haven’t been able to return to their homeland and won’t return until security is ensured. He also attached importance to the role of the OSCE Minsk Group.