Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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328. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will put in place sanctions given the unprovoked invasion of Armenia by Azerbaijan; if he will seek sanctions at an European Union level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47960/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Ireland does not have any unilateral sanctions regimes and the Government has no plans to introduce any. However, and as referred to by the Deputy, Ireland implements EU sanctions adopted as part of the Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (as well as implementing UN sanctions). The introduction of new EU sanctions requires consensus among all EU Member States. There have been no recent EU proposals for sanctions on Azerbaijan, and I have no plans to propose sanctions at EU level. Ireland's position--and that of the EU--is that dialogue and engagement, rather than sanctions, remain the most effective tools at hand to resolve this conflict.

Ireland continues to support the international format of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group to achieve a negotiated, comprehensive and sustainable settlement of the conflict, particularly on the long-term status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Ireland also welcomes the continued efforts of President of the European Council, Charles Michel, to broker talks between President Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Pashinyan of Armenia. In my capacity as Chair of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, on 13 September, I called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to pull back from any further steps which might worsen the situation, to respect international agreements, and to engage in peace talks without further delay. I also called upon member states of the Council of Europe to abide by their commitments taken upon accession, including to settle conflicts by peaceful means, and I offered the Council’s support towards efforts to make peace.