After leaving the EU summit in Riga in almost slamming the door, Azerbaijan Monday, May 25 comes to a violent indictment against the European Union, accusing it of not having explicitly expressed its support principle of territorial integrity, ie the restoration of the sovereignty of Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts under Armenian control. While Armenia has expressed its desire to strengthen its ties with Europe to the extent opportunities left by his support for the Eurasian Union headed by Russia, during the Riga summit dedicated to East European Partnership Program and therefore held with the participation of six former Soviet republics, Azerbaijan openly about taking his distances with Europe. In a statement from its Foreign Ministry, Azerbaijan confirmed its dissatisfaction with the references to the Karabakh conflict in the final summit declaration.
“In trying to develop a compromise text on the conflicts affecting some partner states [EU], the authors of the statement could not avoid the pitfall of what might be called the double standards in international practice, “the statement quoted by the Trend news agency. “Azerbaijan expects the EU it expresses a clear and unequivocal position on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh,” the statement text. The Riga Declaration calls for a resolution of ethnic and territorial conflicts in the former USSR “on the basis of principles and norms of international law.” Referring to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, it calls for a “political solution based on respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
Armenia had not joined this text for not denouncing the annexation of the Crimea by Russia, which would upset its Russian partner and ally, but Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian welcomed the balanced approach concerning Karabakh, stressing that the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan was not concerned here, Karabakh has never been part of Azerbaijan. Concerning the Karabakh conflict, the 13-page document simply points out that the EU and six former Soviet republics involved in the Eastern Partnership “fully support” patient efforts for peace made by the States United States, France and Russia.
The Azeri Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov, who represented Azerbaijan at the Riga Summit, had threatened to veto the declaration adopted in the Latvian capital, forcing the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, to call the Azeri President Ilham Aliyev that he brings his minister to better feelings. It was only after this intervention that Elmar Mammadyarov signed the document, including the Councillor for diplomacy Aliyev, Novruz Mammadov, says Friday, May 22 he aroused the “discontent” in Baku, stating that the Azerbaijani authorities had “approved the statement, while expressing their specific position,” position they “will share in writing” in Brussels. As to mark its dissatisfaction and disappointment with the European authorities, back from Riga, Azeri Minister of Foreign Affairs went to Moscow where he met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on May 25
The Karabakh issue was high on the agenda, after which Lavrov said Moscow would continue to work towards reaching an agreement acceptable to both parties. The Riga Summit seems to confirm in any case the net cooling of relations between the EU and Azerbaijan, tired of criticism of Europeans for its breaches of democracy is tempted to turn to Moscow. Russia is actively courting anyway Azerbaijan, who bought it for billions of dollars on arms in recent years, to the chagrin of Armenia, Russian ally and partner since January within the whole young Eurasian Union.
Gari © armenews.co