ATHENS – Residents of Nagorno-Karabakh who were forced out of the region after Armenia was defeated in a brief war by Azerbaijan after a short war in 2020 will be getting some financial assistance from Greece.

Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis made the announcement in Armenia and said Greece “will soon support a program that will fund the forcibly displaced persons of Nagorno-Karabakh, to meet their needs, particularly accommodation. “It will also relate to the preservation of the Christian cultural sites in Nagorno-Karabakh. We are definitely in favor of preserving the Christian sites in Nagorno-Karabakh, and we want the UNESCO fact finding mission to be on the ground to reveal the damages that these sites have suffered or could suffer, ”he said, reported Armen Press.

The region’s Armenian population had to flee the region during the Azeri invasion in what the European Parliament said was an ethnic cleansing but whih Azerbaijan reclaimed property.

Greece supports the strengthening of the Armenia-EU ties and the deployment of the EU monitoring mission in Armenia, Gerapetritis said at a joint press conference with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.

“Greece has been working to strengthen EU-Armenia institutional dialogue, to offer our expertise acquired over the years as one of the oldest members o fteh EU,” the Greek FM said.

“There is a lot we can do about EU-Armenia relations. Armenia is an important part of Europe, and we will always be there for the Armenian people and the Armenian government,” the Foreign Minister stated.