The European Parliament, instead of supporting the peace process, is, on the contrary, moving to sabotage it, said President Ilham Aliyev in his video address at the European Political Community summit held in Armenia, APA reports.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the European Commission for its position on the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process. Not all European institutions demonstrate the same approach. One of them is the European Parliament, and the other is the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Azerbaijan has been a member of the Council of Europe since January 2001.
By the way, I was one of the active members of PACE at the time, as the head of the Azerbaijani delegation and a member of parliament. Until January 2024, our delegation had never faced any restrictions in the Council of Europe. In September 2023, Azerbaijan put an end to separatism in Karabakh. We ourselves implemented the four resolutions of the United Nations Security Council adopted in 1993, which had remained on paper for 30 years. Four months after that, sanctions were imposed on our delegation in PACE.
Unfortunately, double standards have today become a kind of operating method for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan has the same value as that of any other country, and double standards on this issue are unacceptable. The European Parliament, instead of supporting the peace process, is, on the contrary, moving to sabotage it. From May 2021, six months after the end of the Second Karabakh War in 2020, until April 30, 2026, the European Parliament adopted 14 resolutions on Azerbaijan filled with offensive language.
Just imagine, 14 resolutions in five years — this is a kind of obsession. The latest one was adopted just four days ago, immediately before the summit. Instead of addressing fundamental issues such as xenophobia, Islamophobia, antisemitism, migration, competitiveness, and homelessness in some member states, the European Parliament targets Azerbaijan, spreading slander and falsehoods. The reason for this is that Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty, put an end to separatism, and brought war criminals to justice.
In response, the Parliament of Azerbaijan on May 1 officially adopted a decision to suspend cooperation with the European Parliament in all areas, to halt participation in the activities of the EU–Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, and to initiate procedures to terminate membership in the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly. Considering that within the framework of these summits we openly share our views and concerns, I wanted to bring what is happening on this issue to the attention of our colleagues so that no ground is created for any disinformation or manipulation,” the head of state emphasized.