Robert Walter's Impartiality on Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict is Quite Suspicious

• 03.12.2015, 15:50
•  Europe,  Region,  Armenia,  NKR,  Info

Robert Walter (United Kingdom, EC), rapporteur of the Political Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), will make a fact-finding visit to Baku on  March 12-13, 2015, in the context of the preparation of his report on the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. During his visit, he will meet the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Speaker of the Parliament and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Defense. According to the press service of PACE, meetings are also scheduled with the leaders of political parties represented in Parliament and the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE. In addition, Mr. Walter will meet civil society representatives dealing with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Walter was appointed rapporteur at the autumn session of PACE 2014. Earlier, in November 2010, he was appointed by Prime Minister, David Cameron, to head the United Kingdom delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

In 2014 he delivered a report on "Escalation of violence in Nagorno Karabakh and other occupied territories of Azerbaijan." The report was strongly criticized by official Stepanakert. The Spokesman of the President of Artsakh David Babayan told Tert.am, "A report with such a title and content is unacceptable. We have nothing to hide, and our opinion is that a report should reflect the reality."

He further slammed the approach demonstrated in the report as politically motivated, ruling out cooperation with Walter or his team on any issue, Asbarez reports. As Babayan noted, no announcement was made about Walter’s intention to visit Artsakh with a similar initiative. "So, clearly, the report will be another politically motivated anti-Armenian document dictated by Azeri leadership. We don’t play those games," - the spokesman concluded.

It should be noted that Robert Walter is the same rapporteur who presented the observation report of PACE on the presidential election in Azerbaijan (9 October 2013). The document states that there was "a free, fair and transparent electoral process, electoral procedures on the eve and on the election day were carried out in a professional and peaceful way and no actions of intimidation against voters were witnessed, in or close to the polling stations". The report also noted that "the technical preparations by the Azerbaijani authorities for the election were sound."

But the entire international community qualified the presidential elections in Azerbaijan as not complying with international standards and contradicting the principles of democracy. In this case, Robert Walter’s impartiality is quite suspicious.