UK parliamentarians back Swiss Peace Initiative on Nagorno-Karabakh
LONDON—In a significant show of international support, U.K. Members of Parliament Jim Shannon and Lord Alton of Liverpool issued a joint statement Tuesday on behalf of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on International Freedom of Religion or Belief (APPG FoRB), endorsing the Swiss Peace Initiative on Nagorno-Karabakh.
The statement, representing the views of over 110 British parliamentarians who are members of the APPG, welcomed the Swiss-led effort to establish an international peace forum that would enable open dialogue between Azerbaijan and the forcibly displaced Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The U.K. parliamentarians stressed the need to ensure the right of return for Armenians displaced from the region, the protection of fundamental human rights—including freedom of religion as outlined in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—and the safeguarding of Armenian cultural and spiritual heritage.
“The restoration of security, dignity and stability for all communities in Nagorno-Karabakh is vital not only for humanitarian reasons but also for regional peace in an area of rising geopolitical and economic significance,” the statement read.
The Swiss Peace Initiative was formally adopted by the Swiss Parliament earlier this year. It mandates the Swiss Federal Council to convene an international peace forum within one year, aimed at facilitating negotiations—under international supervision or with the involvement of globally relevant actors—on the safe and voluntary return of the historically resident Armenian population to Nagorno-Karabakh.
To support the implementation of this mandate, an inter-party parliamentary committee composed of 19 Swiss parliamentarians was formed on May 26, 2025, in Bern. This committee is charged with advancing the necessary international mechanisms to fulfill the objectives of the Swiss Parliament’s legally binding decision.
The U.K. statement adds to a growing chorus of international voices calling for durable and inclusive solutions to the longstanding crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.
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I wish this actually snowballed to something substantial. Unfortunately, it won’t, because first and foremost, Pashinyan threw the Artsakhis under the bus and washed his hands off them, and because power politics and vested interests are at play. The poor dispossessed people of Artsakh are the collateral in all of this. The only outcome of this, will be that Azerbaijan will add these two gentlemen to its extremely long “persona non-grata list”, if it hasn’t already.