Push to war: US, EU funding pledge fuels Yerevan's belligerence Disaster on the doorstep

During a meeting with former Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev expressed his concerns about the dangerous direction in which processes are developing worldwide, especially in the South Caucasus. He stated that the plans being made for the region could potentially lead to a great catastrophe. President Aliyev made these remarks while assessing the meeting in Brussels, which Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen, and we Secretary of State Anthony Blinken attended.

President Aliyev made it clear that the positions of Baku and Ankara on this issue are identical. He stated this openly during his telephone conversations with Blinken and von der Leyen, which took place before the meeting. After the meeting, Blinken made a statement that he wants Armenia to be strong, independent, at peace with its neighbours, connected to the region and the world and that the US and the EU want to be partners in this issue. It is worth noting that Blinken represents the Democratic Party and that he almost repeated a political slogan popularised by Republican Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Make America great again, suggested Trump. Swap America for Armenia, and you will see an almost complete similarity between Blinken's and Trump's phrases. Simultaneously, what is most shocking is that the current US Secretary of State proposes to empower a country that still occupies 8 Azerbaijani villages. Yes, we see the desire of the USA and the EU to reward Armenia for all the crimes it has committed. Somehow, the US and the EU have forgotten the fact that Armenia has kept 20% of Azerbaijan's territory under occupation for more than a quarter of a century, ignoring international law and the resolutions of the UN Security Council and General Assembly. Blinken's statement that the US wants Armenia to live in peace with its neighbours is, to put it mildly, very late. The United States should have spoken about this earlier and demanded concrete steps in this direction from official Yerevan. The lack of these steps could push the United States and the EU to impose sanctions on Armenia. None of this has happened.

And what has happened instead? There was encouragement of the occupying country through silence, inaction, and acquiescence in its policy of occupying other people's land. We see the same today. Antony Blinken compliments the very Armenia that launched rocket attacks on peaceful Azerbaijani cities during the 44-day war. These attacks, which killed Azerbaijani old men, women and children, were carried out on the direct orders of Nikol Pashinyan, with whom Blinken and von der Leyen now shake hands and smile. But it is not all smiles and pats on the back. "The US will provide more than $65 million in assistance to Armenia to strengthen its economic and political resilience. This is more than 50 per cent more than two years ago," Blinken pointed out.

Ursula von der Leyen has announced that the European Union plans to provide €270 million to Armenia over the next four years. The United States and the European Union will also provide over €300 million. As the Armenian daily "Hraparak" reported, the Armenian leadership had high expectations concerning the meeting. The publication stated that if the West provides verbal support and contributes substantial amounts of money to Armenia, enabling it to break away from the Russian economy, the Armenian authorities would not hesitate to shift their security focus from Russia to the West. The publication suggested that the amount required for such a change would be several billion dollars rather than just a few million.

As we can observe, Armenia's bargaining has resulted in Pashinyan receiving relatively modest sums. However, this raises logical questions, irrespective of how we look at it. Firstly, we often hear complaints from the US and the EU about the difficulty of providing financial aid to Ukraine, which is publicly announcing that its current and future situation is questionable. Against this backdrop, the allocation of over €300 million to Armenia, which has occupied land for more than 25 years and is still a member of the EAEU and the CSTO, seems like an outrageous form of cynicism towards Ukraine.

Secondly, as the well-known saying goes, "There's no such thing as a free lunch." The financial aid provided by the US and EU to Armenia implies that official Yerevan will become politically dependent on its new sponsors, who may very well order the Armenian leadership to carry out military provocations against Azerbaijan. As a result, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is entirely correct in stating that attempts are being made to turn Armenia into a military outpost.

Another confirmation of the fallacy and danger of US and EU support for Armenia came the day before the Brussels meeting. The Armenian government decided to allocate 234.6 million drams to finance the expenses of Yerkrapah. In essence, this is blatant and open funding of terrorists who serve at the posts on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. As we have seen more than once, the Armenian side wanted to use them in our territory for sabotage purposes. I would like to add that this is part of the new great war that Armenia is provoking with the political and financial support of the USA and the EU. And this is more than a crime. It is a mistake. One that will cost Armenia and its patrons dearly and lead the region to a great catastrophe.

Akper Hasanov