On March 8, Toivo Klaar, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia, stated that the idea that there should be transparency about what is being transported on the Lachin road is legitimate.

"Because we do not want the Lachin road to be used for any shipment of goods that would exacerbate tensions or be used for any military or sort of illicit purposes," Klaar said. "Transparency is absolutely legitimate. The manner in which this transparency is achieved is, I think, something that is subject to discussions and negotiations. I think there are several ways of doing that. And I believe some of these have been discussed in the past, like, for instance, Russians having some additional equipment on the checkpoint to be able to better inspect what is going in and what is going out. Again, I think there are several ways of doing it. I think it is important to discuss this in detail," he added.

The special representative believes that the view in Armenia is that these are two separate issues. "One is the Lachin road, which is covered in one point of the November 2020 Statement, and then there is the connection between Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan, which is covered in another point of the 2020 Statement. So, from that point of view, these are treated in different areas of that statement. But, in the end, it is a question of discussion, of negotiation. Our view, of course, is that, indeed, it is legitimate to have transparency, I think it is also important to have, for the people, for the Armenian inhabitants of Karabakh, a sense of security for them to be able to move back and forth," Klaar stressed.

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