Parliament condemns the attack on Nagorno-Karabakh
Today the European Parliament has adopted a resolution in support of Nagorno-Karabakh and condemns the attack by Azerbaijan on the region.
The conflict in the region which has been present for years, suffered its peak on the 19th of September after Azerbaijan carried out a military operation to take control over Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed region where ethnic Aarmenias have lived for centuries.
EFA MEPs have been vocal for years throughout this conflict, and have been strongly calling for EU action since last year Azerbaijan blocked access to the Lachin corridor, cutting the access to essential goods, of the region.
On the 28th of September, the representative authorities of Artsakh announced they were dissolving and surrendering its weapons.
The Parliament has also approved today's amendment to stop buying gas from Azerbaijan, after the appalling attacks from this autocratic government. The EFA Group welcomes this decision as it brings a clear message that violating international law, ceasefire agreements and human rights, has consequences.
Jordi Sole, EFA Group President and member of the External Affairs Committee, said:
“The mass exodus of Armenians from Artsakh, fleeing their homeland and leaving everything behind for fear of reprisals, is truly shameful and represents a massive failure.
“We did warn: that the months-long blockade of the Lachin Corridor was only the prelude to a de facto ethnic cleansing. Azerbaijan, with all its anti-Armenian rhetoric, was never genuinely committed to diplomacy.”
"While European diplomacy dithers over the attitude to adopt towards Baku, the European Parliament strongly condemns Azerbaijan's aggression against this enclave, while calling for a review of the EU's relations with this country.
“The increased dependence of certain Member States on Azerbaijani gas since the Russian aggression against Ukraine must not make us forget that Ilham Aliyev is responsible for an operation of ethnic cleansing directed against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. We urgently need to reduce our energy dependence, and we call on the Commission to reconsider the "strategic partnership" concluded with Azerbaijan in the energy field.”
“We also want to give Armenia more support, both in terms of assistance for refugees and in terms of its democratic reforms. Finally, the MEPs make a stark assessment of the ineffectiveness of decades of diplomacy, which have been unable to prevent Azerbaijan's military actions or human suffering. They therefore call for a new diplomatic and security architecture in the region.”
Ana Miranda, EFA MEP said:
“In the European Parliament today, many Members from different political groups expressed our solidarity with the Armenian people. It is a catastrophe, it is genocide, it is ethnic cleansing, and Europe has been absent. We are facing a silent war, and silence before the world.”
“Azerbaijan is responsible for the fate of the Armenian people. While Armenian forces were asking for our help, while Azerbaijani forces were blocking the corridor for humanitarian aid, the European Union concluded "a reliable agreement". A reliable agreement: the supply of gas against human rights and against the people of Artsakh. This reliable partner of the European Union and Mrs von der Leyen has led to an exodus, military control and the violation of human rights”.
“We in the European Free Alliance stand with the people of Artsakh and with international solidarity, and we call for sanctions against Azerbaijan.”
