Nagorno-Karabakh is concerned about Poland's position on Poles' visits to Karabakh territories

On January 13, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Nagorno-Karabakh issued a comment on the statement of the Polish Embassy in Baku about the undesirability for Polish citizens to visit Nagorno-Karabakh without the permit of Azerbaijani authorities. Nagorno-Karabakh fears that other European countries may follow Poland.

Let us remind you that on December 19, 2010, Tomasz Poreba, a citizen of Poland and a European MP, visited Nagorno-Karabakh. In this regard, the Azerbaijani MFA moved a note of protest to the European Union and Poland.

Then, on January 6, information appeared in media that the MFA of Poland warned its citizens not to visit Nagorno-Karabakh without a permit of Azerbaijani authorities.

In its turn, the MFA of Nagorno-Karabakh stated that it treated this position of Warsaw as strange. "The position of the authorities of Poland, which is one of the initiators of the EU's 'Eastern Partnership' Programme, based on the principles of democracy and international law, looks strange. Aren't the Polish authorities infringing the rights and freedoms of their citizens?" the MFA of Nagorno-Karabakh says in its comment.

At the same time, the MFA notes that "despite threats of Baku, after declaring independence, Nagorno-Karabakh was visited by dozens of thousands of foreigners - tourists, politicians, entrepreneurs, actors, journalists, including representatives of Azerbaijan's most friendly countries, such as Turkey."

The comment of the MFA of the Nagorno-Karabakh also runs that "the number of foreign nationals visiting Artsakh, including from the EU, is on a steady rise from year to year."

David Babayan, a political scientist and head of the information division under the President of Nagorno-Karabakh, believes that at the background of global processes the statement of the Polish MFA is purely symbolic, a recommendation, and practical tracing of the enforcement of this ban will be impossible.

Vladimir Grigoryan, head of the Centre of Information Technologies, believes that the statement of the Polish MFA is an alarm signal; and "it may be viewed as a small diplomatic victory of Azerbaijan." He fears that after Poland other European countries can make similar statements. "And then Karabakh will really have problems," he said. He believes that "the Karabakh authorities should start active work with the EU in order to 'nullify' the statement, in order to have no consequences."