MEPs believe that “Azerbaijan’s latest aggression against Armenia has no direct connection with the long-term conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh“, meaning September military operations on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in 2022. The European Parliament announced that this was a military attack that “violated previous attempts to achieve peace and led to the occupation of the sovereign territory of Armenia by Azerbaijani forces.” Thus reads a new report from the Committee on Foreign Relations, dedicated to the cooperation of the European Union with Armenia.
Armenian analysts consider European partners’ response very important, but do not have much optimism about the effectiveness of such documents. According to political scientist Suren Surenyants, they can have “only an illusory impact on Azerbaijan – until international organizations set the price of responsibility for Baku for its actions.”
“Withdraw troops from the territory of Armenia”
The European Parliament appealed to the Azerbaijani authorities to withdraw its troops, condemning the “large-scale military attack of Azerbaijan on Armenia in September 2022.”
Regarding the peace treaty to be signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the European deputies stressed:
“To be effective, any peace agreement must include provisions guaranteeing
- the territorial integrity of Armenia,
- the rights and security of the Armenian population living in Nagorno-Karabakh and other regions affected by the conflict,
- the prompt and safe return of refugees and internally displaced persons to their homes”.
Fifty-five deputies voted for the adoption of the document, with none against and five abstentions. The text will now be submitted for approval by the European Parliament.
“We welcome the deployment of the EU mission in Armenia and call on the Azerbaijani government to guarantee freedom and security of movement along the Lachin corridor, which was blocked almost two months ago,” Andrey Kovachev, rapporteur on Armenia, said.