The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, has warned that planned parliamentary elections in the disputed Caucasus enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh on May 23 will not be legal.
Ashton said in a statement that the vote "should not prejudice the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict" and urged all parties to redouble efforts to find a negotiated solution to the conflict.
Backed by Armenia, ethnic Armenian separatists seized control of Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s in a war that left around 30,000 people dead.
Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a cease-fire in their conflict over the region more than a decade ago, but the enclave remains a disputed territory.
compiled from agency reports
Ashton said in a statement that the vote "should not prejudice the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict" and urged all parties to redouble efforts to find a negotiated solution to the conflict.
Backed by Armenia, ethnic Armenian separatists seized control of Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s in a war that left around 30,000 people dead.
Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a cease-fire in their conflict over the region more than a decade ago, but the enclave remains a disputed territory.
compiled from agency reports