Hearings to be held in Belgian Federal Parliament on draft resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh

A resolution calling for sanctions against Azerbaijan’s Aliyev regime and urgent actions to free the unlawfully held Armenian prisoners will be debated by Belgian legislators next week.

The hearing will be held on April 2 at the initiative of the foreign relations committee of the Chamber of Representatives, the lower house of Belgium's federal parliament.

The resolution is authored by Members of the Chamber of Representatives Els Van Hoof (CD&V) and Michel De Maegd (MR) who serve as Chair and Deputy Chair of the foreign relations commitee respectively.

Els Van Hoof said Armenia and Belgium share the same values of democracy, rule of law and respect for international law and called for Brussels’ support for Yerevan.

"If Azerbaijan continues to violate international law, sanctions must be adopted at the European level, and the EU’s relations with Azerbaijan must be reviewed. This is what my resolution is calling for,” Els Van Hoof said.

Michel De Maegd said that the international community must act to achieve the release of the Armenian prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan.

The resolution calls for the protection of the Armenian cultural heritage, the release of Armenian POWs, the safe return of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, among other issues.