EUROPEAN INTRIGUE

The European Union and the Council of Europe are pursuing a biased, unfair, and double-standard policy against Azerbaijan, which is intensifying. What is the reason for their stance, or rather, why is the entire West trying to interfere with the sovereignty and national interests of the country?

"Bumbling" Borrell

The growing European pressure on Baku is not the only evidence of the usual anti-Azerbaijani attacks of France, one of the leading EU countries. The Senate resolution and the statements of President Emmanuel Macron and the new French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejournet, which support Armenia and criticise Baku without any basis, also show the increasing European pressure on Baku.

A new stage of the anti-Azerbaijani campaign that has swept many Western countries has been triggered by another statement from the head of the EU foreign policy service, Deputy President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell. The same one, whose falsehood has already been exposed by the deliberate exaggeration of the number of Armenian residents who have left the mountainous part of the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan in one of his previous assaults. Then Borrell again expressed his "concern" about the "threat" that Azerbaijan supposedly poses to Armenia's sovereignty and territorial integrity. He also warned of "serious consequences for our relations". The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, responding to Borrell's rant, pointed out that the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy incites militarization and aggression towards Baku.

"The blatant distortion of facts by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs is a clear disregard for Azerbaijan's legitimate interests. Such menacing rhetoric is a clear example of double standards that further worsen relations between Azerbaijan and the EU," Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizade stated.

He noted that the head of European diplomacy completely twists President Ilham Aliyev's statements about historical facts related to the territories of Azerbaijan and Armenia, and reminded that the actions taken to stop aggression and separatism paved the way for a peace deal with Yerevan. The Foreign Ministry also warned that Baku will firmly resist any attempts to undermine its national interests.

When talking about Borrell, one remembers Ilham Aliyev's interview to local TV channels, in which he said that in most European states "people with great authority both in their countries and on the international arena left the stage, having been replaced, in general, by random people, populists and demagogues...". And the current head of the EU diplomatic department certainly confirms this bitter truth.

PACE's double standards

In late January, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) also made an institutional move against Azerbaijan, refusing to approve the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation.

Obviously, the decision was based on the dissatisfaction among some members of the European political community with Azerbaijan ending the Armenian occupation and restoring its territorial integrity. The internal political complaints addressed to Baku are, so to speak, of a secondary nature. They have been voiced continuously before, but the decision to strip the Azerbaijani delegation of its powers in the PACE came only as a "reaction" to Azerbaijan's restoration of its sovereignty over the whole of Garabagh.

So it is around the "Armenian issue" that the motives behind the anti-Azerbaijani activity of the PACE and other European institutions revolve. They never spoke up for Azerbaijan, when one fifth of its territory was occupied by Armenia, which also committed numerous war crimes - genocide and brutal ethnic cleansing on the occupied lands. PACE and other European institutions never raised the issue of punishing Armenia, imposing sanctions on it or stripping its delegations of their voting rights during 30 years of occupation. But now European parliaments, assemblies and various commissions accuse Azerbaijan. Moreover, they accuse Azerbaijan of something that is beyond any accusation, for defending its sovereignty, territory and people is sacred and is the natural right and duty of any state.

PACE has revealed its true face, which was aptly described by the Azerbaijani delegation, which decided to end all cooperation with the organisation: "Political corruption, discrimination, ethnic and religious hatred, double standards, arrogance, chauvinism have become the dominant practice in PACE," the statement reads. The Azerbaijani delegation explained the suspension of its participation in the PACE by the "intolerable atmosphere of racism, Azerbaijanophobia and Islamophobia" in the assembly.

It is also noted that after Azerbaijan's historic victory over aggression, occupation and violent separatism, as well as the restoration of its territorial integrity and sovereignty, the country is facing an organised defamation campaign that overshadows the achievements in restoring the justice that has been denied to the Azerbaijani people for so long. "For nearly twenty years, when the Azerbaijani delegation raised the issue of the dire consequences of the Armenian occupation, we were told that PACE was not the suitable format for discussing conflict-related issues. But now the same PACE and the same deputies say the exact opposite and do not miss any chance to attack Azerbaijan. Selective interpretation of international law and different attitude to issues related to territorial integrity and sovereignty of states demonstrate the cynical and hypocritical nature of the authors of this disgraceful proposal," the Azerbaijani delegation said, referring to the initiative to strip its powers in PACE.

"Doing a favour" for Armenia

Azerbaijani-European relations have mainly developed at the bilateral level. Azerbaijan is engaged in close partnership dialogue with a number of European states. However, in a collective format, Europe has made it clear for the nth time that Azerbaijan's victory over Armenia - a victory based on the potential of a strong, sovereign Azerbaijani state - was not in line with the West's plans and therefore cannot be accepted by it.

All these worn-out claims about "massive human rights violations in Garabagh", "the expulsion of more than 100,000 Armenians from Garabagh" and similar nonsense contained in the reports and statements of European authorities and their representatives only confirm that the West cannot stomach Azerbaijan's victory in the war with Armenia. A victory as a result of which it asserted its sovereignty over all the liberated territories.

The West cannot stomach Azerbaijan's victory because it was achieved not only without consulting the West, but also against its wishes. It is this phenomenal event in modern global politics - the assertion of sovereignty of a specific country against the will of the Euro-Atlantic centres - that does not let the latter sleep. It follows from this that the underlying reason for the sometimes overtly hostile attitude of Western, especially European, institutions towards Azerbaijan lies in its independent policy. The focus in this policy is not on serving the geopolitical interests of the West in the South Caucasus, but on creating a solid security system with the involvement of the regional states themselves.

This is what angers Western circles, which still think of themselves as the rulers of the world, despite the realities of the 21st century. But their efforts will not stop Azerbaijan in its consistent pursuit to strengthen its state independence and protect its national interests. The European institutions, which are an important part of the collective West, will not be able to make Azerbaijan accept the "rules of the game" imposed on it. "Rules" that violate Azerbaijan's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the robust framework of regional peace, security and cooperation that it is building. In this sense, Europe's policy, of which the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE is a sign, does not augur well for its relations with Baku. And moreover - for the European interests in the whole South Caucasus, where Azerbaijan is the key, leading state.

The West's attempts to contrast Azerbaijan's policy with that of Armenia, which, through its years of reckless anti-Azerbaijani policy, has effectively lost not only its decent development but also its agency, will not pay off. First of all, for the West itself. The decisions made by it, especially by European institutions, all these anti-Azerbaijani actions of Brussels, Strasbourg and, of course, Paris, which finally equated French interest with Armenian interest, have already led, in fact, to the failure of European mediation. But they will also lead to disastrous consequences for Armenia itself, whose interests are supposedly guided by the anti-Azerbaijani outcries of the EU, CE and other "europeans".

Armenia is being exploited by the West to pressure Azerbaijan and destabilize the situation in the entire Caucasus-Caspian region. But at the same time, Armenia, fed by Euro-institutions with the unrealized hope that it will manage to break Azerbaijan, risks losing the opportunity for peace that would save it. Without it, Armenia, favoured by the West, will inevitably face more losses.