Double standards and Michel's confession Europe's hypocrisy

President of the European Council Charles Michel recently voiced a view on EU policy that is not typical for most European officials. In particular, in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, he recognized the presence of double standards in decision-making in Brussels. "Sometimes in Brussels there are double standards in the course of decision-making among the member states of the community. I have always tried to make sure that everyone is equal, for which I have been criticized," said the head of the European Council.

According to him, the European Commission cannot be a politicized body and must respect neutrality and objectivity. However, we already know that European politics is far from ideal and the EU has long ago adopted double standards. A vivid example of this is Azerbaijan, which, more than anyone else, has repeatedly faced double standards of the West. And such bias towards our country is regularly demonstrated not only in Europe, but also in the US, and since the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia until today. We remember very well how during the years of Armenian occupation Europe was not in a hurry to condemn the aggression of Yerevan, ignoring this fact, as a result of which one million Azerbaijanis received the status of refugees and forced migrants. Both Europe and the United States preferred to ignore the tragedy of the Azerbaijani people.

But as soon as Azerbaijan fully restored its sovereignty and territorial integrity, we were immediately accused of conducting "ethnic cleansing". Is this not a blatant manifestation of the double standards of Europe and the collective West in general? The EU immediately expressed "concern" about the fate of Karabakh Armenians, who left the territory of Azerbaijan of their own free will, and not under the threat of extermination, as was the case with Azerbaijanis thirty years ago. What is also important to note is that Azerbaijan has restored its sovereignty and territorial integrity without violating a single point of international law, which the "democratic" West so zealously promotes.

As a manifestation of Europe's double standards towards Azerbaijan, one can also cite the provocative statements of the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell in December last year "on the prohibition of resolving conflicts by force". By the way, the same Borrel never once condemned the illegal presence of Armenian armed forces on the territory of Azerbaijan, openly supporting Armenian separatism. Undoubtedly, Brussels, Washington and Paris were satisfied with the preservation of the "gray zone" on the territory of Azerbaijan, and by solving this problem alone, Baku actually destroyed their plans.

Next. An indicator of the West's double standards was also the recent call by 66 US congressmen who urged the US House Appropriations Committee to allocate $200 million to "forcibly displaced refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh," increase US military aid to Armenia, cut off all funding for Azerbaijan's military and security needs, and examine the issue of imposing sanctions against a number of Azerbaijani officials. Although during the long years of the Armenian occupation, the US Congress never bothered to propose the imposition of sanctions against Armenia, which, in flagrant violation of the norms of international law, kept under control the territories of a neighbouring state. On the contrary, it was in 1992, when Armenia committed genocide in Khojaly and occupied Shusha, that the 907th Amendment against our country was adopted in the United States.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev constantly speaks about the double standards of Europe in relation to our country. Receiving the delegation of the German Eastern Economic Committee in February this year, the Head of State said that double standards have become a common phenomenon for a number of international institutions, including the European Union. The head of state stressed that the statements of European Diplomacy Chairman Josep Borrell in connection with Azerbaijan's alleged preparation for an attack on Armenia are part of France's anti-Azerbaijani policy based on demonization of our country. "First of all, these statements of his do not reflect any reality and contradict the norms of international law. Secondly, the Azerbaijani side regards these statements as a veiled threat to our country. Thus, Borrel said that if Azerbaijan attacks Armenia, it will see the bitter consequences of it. First of all, where did Borrel get the information that Azerbaijan plans to attack Armenia? We have no such plans. These are insinuations of Mr. Macron," President Aliyev stressed.

The head of our state also spoke about the fact that hypocrisy and double standards prevail over real values during his recent speech at the opening ceremony of the VI World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue "Dialogue for Peace and Global Security" in Baku.

Finally, we would like to note that close cooperation with the European Union is of fundamental importance for Azerbaijan not only in the field of energy and economy, but also in terms of revision of the policy of double standards of the West towards our country, which the head of the European Council was silent about.