The European Union (EU) announced this Tuesday an increase of 4.5 million euros in humanitarian aid for the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, in particular for those who fled Azerbaijan’s most recent offensive towards Armenia.
According to Brussels, in a statement, the escalation of the conflict and the subsequent ceasefire could trigger “a mass exodus of people from Nagorno-Karabakh towards Armenia, where around 13,500 refugees have already crossed the border.”
At the same time, “there is a serious shortage of food and lack of access to electricity and water in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.”
This sum of 4.5 million euros, new financing that will help people displaced from the enclave to Armenia and vulnerable people in Nagorno-Karabakh, is in addition to the 500,000 euros of emergency aid already announced last Friday.
On September 19, the Azerbaijani army launched an attack on Armenian positions, calling the action an “anti-terrorist operation”, demanding that the Armenians lay down their arms and that the separatist government (in power ‘de facto’ since 1994) be dissolved. .
A day later, Nagorno-Karabakh authorities agreed to the military demands, but talks on how to integrate the region into Azerbaijan were inconclusive.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said today at a government meeting that there is no immediate need for Armenians in the region to leave the homes where they live, but stressed that the country is prepared to receive 40,000 displaced people. if necessary.
Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces in the separatist fighting that ended in 1994, and Yerevan also took control of substantial territory around the Azerbaijan region.
In 2020, Azerbaijan regained control of surrounding territory in a six-week war with Armenia.
Source: TSF
