Azerbaijan undeterred by EU's ill-timed and barren pressure campaign Double standards of the Old World

Attempts to export alien political scenarios to the South Caucasus, as well as efforts to use the language of ultimatums in dialogue with Azerbaijan, are doomed to failure. There is so much evidence for this that listing them would take a series of articles. In his September 21 nationwide address, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev resolutely warned those who want to pull the wool over Baku.

“No one can speak to us in the language of dictate and ultimatum!”

However, unfortunately, there are still those, who console themselves with empty illusions, are monstrously mistaken and choose a completely ridiculous, unacceptable way of dialogue with Azerbaijan. Several such attempts were recorded the day before. For example, the European Parliament (EP), at a plenary session in Strasbourg, adopted a legally non-binding resolution, calling on the EU to impose sanctions against Azerbaijan “due to the events in Nagorno-Garabagh”, as well as to reconsider the terms of cooperation with Azerbaijan, reducing dependence on the latter’s gas imports.

The resolution is replete with openly cynical and truly blasphemous calls to the world community. For example, the EP “did not hear” that official Baku had repeatedly given security guarantees to the Garabagh Armenians. But the fact that the Garabagh Armenians left their places of residence in private cars and buses, peacefully and calmly, receiving drink and food on the way, the European Parliament chose “not to see”. But three decades ago, Azerbaijanis were expelled from their homes at gunpoint, old people, women, and children were shot in the back. But the EP calmly turned a blind eye to this criminal barbarity and did not adopt any resolutions condemning Armenia.

But now the actions of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, his “commitment to peace” have earned the “gratitude” of members of the European Parliament. In Azerbaijan, they will never forget Pashinyan’s “commitment to peace” with the prime minister’s categorical statement that “Garabagh is Armenia” and dancing drunken in Shusha. Not to mention the fact that, on his orders, during the 44-day war, Armenia launched missile attacks on the Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Barda, Mingachevir, where dozens of civilians were killed. But the EP “didn’t notice” this either. As three years ago, so now. That is why the EP resolution is an attempt to dance lambada where it is customary to perform shalakho (popular Caucasus dance).

Events developed in exactly the same way in Spanish Granada, where the summit of the European Political Community (EPC) was held and where a meeting was to take place between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan with the participation of European Union President Charles Michel, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President of France Emmanuel Macron. The Azerbaijani president, as is known, decided to skip the meeting. Not least because France and Germany, which have long adopted a strongly pro-Armenian rather than neutral policy, opposed the presence of Turkish President Erdogan at it.

Plus, literally before the Granada summit, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna visited Yerevan, where she made a number of openly provocative statements. And then official Baku clearly stated that it would not participate in the meeting due to the presence of France, which is hostile to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan run out of patience, and its step was correct, logical and justified.

Assistant to the Azerbaijani President, Head of the Foreign Policy Department under the Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev, in a tweet on the social network X, made it very clear that Azerbaijan supports the trilateral Brussels process and the regional peace agenda in the EU-Azerbaijan-Armenia format with the assistance of EU President Charles Michel, and Baku is the author of many peace initiatives, including the peace treaty.

“Due to the biased actions and militaristic policies of France, which seriously undermine regional peace and stability in the South Caucasus and jeopardize the common policy of the European Union towards the region, Azerbaijan has decided not to participate in the Granada meeting,” Hajiyev clearly explained Azerbaijan’s position.

More than correct, despite the fact that Charles Michel has recently begun to allow himself a biased and hostile tone in assessing realities. It seems that he completely forgot that Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty, defeating separatism without the help of the EP, the EU and his personal – Michel’s assistance. He also lost sight of the fact that Baku had repeatedly called on Yerevan to disarm and withdraw Armenian illegal armed groups from the territory of the Garabagh economic region of Azerbaijan. He preferred to feign surprise that Azerbaijan, due to the endless political dancing of the RA leadership, was forced to conduct a counter-terrorist operation.

But even despite all these statements by Michel, demonstrating political will for peace, Azerbaijan confirmed its readiness to continue the dialogue with Armenia in a trilateral format with the assistance of the same president of the European Council. That is, without attempts to involve Macron’s France in the negotiations. This is the firm position of official Baku, from which it will never retreat. And no Armenian-French political steps will affect it.

As for the statement published following the results of the four-party meeting in Granada, without the participation of Azerbaijan, it looked like a letter that arrived very late. In particular, it proposes to normalize relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the basis of mutual recognition of the sovereignty, inviolability of borders and territorial integrity of Armenia (29,800 sq. km) and Azerbaijan (86,600 sq. km). After all, this is what the official Baku has always insisted on!

In respect for its territorial integrity, Azerbaijan demanded it for three decades, while the occupation of 20% of Azerbaijani lands lasted. But no one in the world, including the USA, Russia and France (co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group), helped us with this. Azerbaijan achieved the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions, the triumph of justice and legality solely through its own efforts, at the cost of the lives of thousands of its sons!

And now, after the successful completion of counter-terrorism measures, in his address to the people, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev unequivocally stated: “We recognize their territorial integrity and have stated this, we recognize the territorial integrity of all countries.”

The president emphasized that all the rights of the Garabagh Armenians, naturally, after they receive Azerbaijani citizenship, will be ensured, and this is the right to education, original culture, religion and even municipal elections.

We should note that in response, the Armenian leadership did not at all agree to the return of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis expelled from the neighboring country to their homes. And the EU or EP did not demand anything like this from official Yerevan. Moreover, Charles Michel tries to evade when representatives of the domestic media ask him the question of whether the EU can be considered a neutral party, ignoring the rights of Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons and focusing only on Armenia. This is a political lambada. But in our realities, it will not be successful. There are different traditions here. And Azerbaijan has enough power and capabilities to defend them, to protect its national interests.