The European Union, or at least a significant part of its member states, has lost all sense of political reality and understanding of international law at an elementary level. Brussels has gotten into the bad habit of bashing Azerbaijan: if there is no real reason, it finds a contrived excuse. This habit has already turned into a painful affliction or extreme audacity after Azerbaijan regained all its territories that had been under Armenian occupation for thirty years. But occupation on the part of Armenia was sort of considered a normal phenomenon, while Azerbaijan’s victory was seen as a heinous act.
It was obvious that France, with its failed superpower complex, would continue to demonstrate a particularly painful reaction to “Armenian affairs”, and that it would routinely voice the “royal opinion” of the West and threaten Azerbaijan. The recent statement of EU Spokesman for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano, where he sent “clear signals” to Baku on behalf of the “civilized European family” about the serious consequences in relations between the EU and Azerbaijan on the grounds of the latter’s “violation” of Armenia’s territorial integrity, certainly suggested that the West’s aggression would take on a clearer shape.
This was confirmed yesterday when the French Senate passed a resolution calling on the European Union to impose sanctions against Azerbaijan, on whose relations with Armenia high-ranking European arbiters of fate, such as Charles Michel, Josep Borrel and Toivo Klaar, are working in the sweat of their brows.
336 senators voted for the resolution, and only one, Nathalie Goulet, voted against. “This resolution has nothing to do with reality, it is directed against peace and stability, against a better future for the South Caucasus. The authors of this document have completely forgotten about Armenia’s occupation policy,” she said. Goulet added that the Armenian diaspora in France is playing a toxic and very dangerous game. “This is a useless activity and is aimed against peace,” said the senator. As a matter of fact, what is happening now, not only in France, but in a significant segment of the collective West, is aimed not only against peace but also against the world.
It appears that the other 336 senators suffer from acute Azerbaijanophobia, a sign of ill-health; or are affected by mass psychosis, which essentially does not alter the overall picture that speaks of mental and political disorder.
This merry bunch condemned Baku’s actions in “Nagorno-Karabakh” on September 19 and 20, 2023, “which led to the expulsion of almost the entire Armenian population living there”. Accordingly, the senators are “convinced” that Azerbaijan must bear responsibility for this. The responsibility includes revising the terms of cooperation with Baku and reducing Europe’s reliance on Azerbaijani gas.
You may recall that they have already reduced their reliance from Russian gas, and we all know how that worked. And we also remember that Azerbaijan was asked to “increase exports to the EU”, to which Baku responded immediately: last summer Azerbaijan signed an agreement with the European Commission on increasing deliveries, doubling exports and bringing the annual amount up to 20 billion m³ in 15 years. Azerbaijan remains faithful to its commitments. And European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen even saw Azerbaijan as a “reliable energy partner of Europe” and sang its praises.
The French senators now tell this partner to respect the right of the Armenian people of “Nagorno-Karabakh” to self-determination as the only way to preserve peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. “The international community,” the resolution says, “should demand that Azerbaijan make efforts to ensure the rights of the Armenian population … as well as guarantees for its security.” There is also a demand that Azerbaijani troops be withdrawn from Karabakh. According to Armenian sources, the authors of the resolution also “condemn the arbitrary arrests of political leaders in Nagorno-Karabakh” and demand their immediate release.
Yerevan, understandably, rejoiced, and the Armenian Embassy in France thanked Paris for its support, expressing hope that the initiative to impose sanctions on Azerbaijan would be supported by other EU member states. The gratitude has been accepted, but Yerevan will have to pay for such fervent “French love”, with Armenia’s sovereignty and peace on its soil.
Meanwhile, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to France Leyla Abdullayeva is fighting for justice and protection of Azerbaijan’s legitimate rights. She bravely warned the Senate that the resolution being prepared is based on erroneous, false information: French MEP Nathalie Loiseau rather inappropriately advised the Azerbaijani diplomat to study “the basics of democracy and the rule of law”.
The obvious question is: what lies behind this affliction or audacity of Paris and Brussels as a “collective EU”, which has irked more than one EU member state by now.
The information that Azerbaijan will “attack” Armenia was repeatedly refuted by President Aliyev himself.
The latter also repeatedly guaranteed the Armenian population of the Karabakh region their constitutional rights. Karabakh Armenians themselves acknowledged and still acknowledge that Azerbaijanis did not force them out of the Karabakh region, but they were “afraid anyway”, which is humanly understandable. Others did not rule out returning to Karabakh once it was clear that it was safe for them there. This would seem to be the end of the story: after all, the French observers keeping watch on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan are aware that there has been no violence against the Armenian population on the part of Azerbaijan.
Yet both France and the European Union in general for thirty years ignored the fact that the violence was criminally excessive on the part of Armenians against Azerbaijanis in Armenia itself (300,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis were expelled from the Republic of Armenia, and almost three times more from the occupied territories, adding many murders, abuse and torture).
They still say nothing about the return of Azerbaijanis to Armenia, however, they demand, according to the Armenian side, the release of separatists who were directly involved in the extermination of Azerbaijanis and occupation of Azerbaijani territories.
Why? When all this mess with the occupation of 20% of Azerbaijani territories and violation of Azerbaijanis’ rights began, the West enjoyed watching first the collapse of the USSR and then fratricidal wars in the post-Soviet space, as they suited them extremely well: it was exactly what the West was striving for to get hold of this vast area, rich in natural resources and weakened by internecine strife. But this required its complete disintegration with mass brutality as a guarantee of further non-reconciliation. So it was not in the West’s best interest to get involved in the actual settlement of conflicts in the post-Soviet space: it had to “rot” on its own and facilitate the West’s triumphal march, the end point of which was difficult to determine at that time, since appetite comes with eating.
However, the West failed to predict what processes could start in the post-Soviet space and the surrounding areas, in particular, that Azerbaijan would be able to put an end to the Armenian occupation, become a hydrocarbon and transportation and logistics “cadre” with a high level of sovereignty. This last factor is most hated by the West, as it is used to subordination and unconditional compliance with its wishes.
Now, one should think, they are trying to create a reputation for Aliyev as a “second Saddam Hussein” (craving for neo-inquisition?) in order to rid the region of a strong leader. Hence (plus Islamophobia) the “love for Armenians”, which Armenians themselves do not really believe in anymore: Yerevan understands that the West, and France in particular, is driven by political, not democratic interests, or the rule of law and humanity.
Thus, Azerbaijan’s victory and strengthening of its role and influence not only in the South Caucasus, but also beyond it, is a thorn in the side of the “human rights advocates”. This means that efforts to undermine the situation in Azerbaijan will increase with exceptional pressure and brazenness. At the same time, the West itself, blatantly violating the rights of its own citizens, does not want to look at itself in the mirror: what it would see in it is xenophobia (Islamophobia), racial discrimination and other vices.
Speaking of France, which has forever stained itself with colonialism (not to forget the Inquisition). The inertia of its sins is off the charts: the wealth looted in the colonies became the foundation for the prosperity of the Fifth Republic, while the mangled fates of many generations of people who were not even considered human became dust under its feet.
We know that a Senate resolution has no binding legal force, and it is unlikely that all EU states will embarrass themselves by adopting a similar spiteful document”. However, we should not underestimate the aggression of Paris and Brussels, who are still subordinate to Washington, even though Baku shows increased vigilance.
The West has already set fire to the Middle East, Ukraine and other regions, but this maniacal affliction will only gain momentum. The West’s current treatment of Azerbaijan, with implications for neighboring regions, can only be considered a “trial balloon” that Baku sends back where it comes from, without any aggression, at the diplomatic level. But for how long will this policy of “containment to the extent possible” work?
This is a very serious question, and it can be resolved with a high probability of effectiveness as the world is being reformatted, a process that is to enter a definitive, although not decisive, phase this year. It will be, at the very least, extremely tense in the context of rogue actions of those who claim to “own the world”. And in this situation we must hang on for an indefinite period of time: the rise of justice is a long way away.
Irina Jorbenadze
Translated from Minval.az
