Garčević Quoted Discussing Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict
On October 3, 2020, Ambassador Vesko Garčević, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was quoted in an article in El Nuevo Siglo (The New Century) about the ongoing conflict Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
In the article, titled “Nagorno Karabaj y la lucha por el status quo” (Nagorno Karabakh and the struggle for the status quo), Garčević commented on potential Russian involvement in the war and assessed chances for a lasting peaceful solution for this part of the world. He argued that Russia may play the role of mediator in the conflict given its good relations with both sides involved in the war.
Moscow supports Armenia, but has good relations with Azerbaijan. Garčević states that Russia postures itself as a partner trusted by all the sides involved in the war, including Turkey that supports Azerbaijan. If Russia intervenes, he argues that Moscow will try to capitalize on its role in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to use it as a leverage in its relations with the West.
An excerpt:
If Russia supports Armenia militarily and Turkey supports Azerbaijan, the conflict could escalate even more and even end up affecting diplomatic relations between these regional powers. As Vesko Garčević…states, ‘Turkey and Russia do not want to lead the situation to war. No one is ready to take that risk for mutual interests in other parts of the world.’
The full article can be read here.
During his diplomatic career, Ambassador Vesko Garčević dealt with issues pertinent to European security and NATO for almost 14 years. In 2004, he was posted in Vienna to serve as Ambassador to Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He had been a Montenegro’s Ambassador to NATO from 2010 until 2014 and served as a Montenegro’s National Coordinator for NATO from 2015 until he joined the faculty at the Pardee School. Learn more about him here.