BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 1. The European Union
(EU) Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Marijana Kujundzic, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During
the meeting, the ministry strongly condemned the baseless and
biased provisions in the resolution against Azerbaijan adopted by
the European Parliament on April 30 and issued the relevant note of
protest.
The political analyst Azer Garayev, speaking about the issue in
an interview with Trend, noted that this incident is essentially not
only a diplomatic protest, but also a re-aggravation of
long-standing differences in political interpretation between
Azerbaijan and the EU.
"The summoning of an ambassador to the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Azerbaijan is perceived in diplomacy as a 'signal of
serious dissatisfaction', which means that the party expresses its
position not only through a statement, but also through an
institutional channel.
The main subject of the dispute is the resolution adopted by the
European Parliament. The Azerbaijani side considers this document
problematic in several ways: firstly, the selective presentation of
facts, and secondly, the inconsistency of political assessments
with real processes in the region. The resolution seems to be a
one-sided approach rather than an objective political analysis.
The most important part of the commentary is that there is not
just a 'difference of opinion', but a narrative clash. The
Azerbaijani side considers the issues related to Karabakh to be
closed within the framework of sovereignty and reintegration and
does not accept that this topic will again become a subject of
political discussion. In response, some statements of European
institutions still present alternative interpretations through a
humanitarian or political prism. This difference creates structural
distrust between the parties," he said.
Garayev noted that three issues in particular are at the heart
of the tension.
"First, the claims regarding the return of the Armenian
population to Karabakh. The Azerbaijani side views this as an
approach that does not correspond to reality and distorts the
demographic and political processes that have already taken
place.
The second is the use of the terminology 'prisoner of war' in
relation to the detained individuals. Official Baku explains the
legal status of these individuals within the framework of national
judicial processes and criminal charges and does not accept the
transfer of the issue to international political rhetoric.
Third, there is the issue of cultural and religious heritage.
The Azerbaijani side puts forward two parallel theses here: on the
one hand, it claims that there is little international attention to
the heritage sites destroyed on its territory, and on the other
hand, it states that the factual basis for the current accusations
is weak.
In this context, the main problem in relations with the European
Union is the different interpretation of legal and political
approaches. The EU speaks more on the normative framework, human
rights and international law terminology, while Azerbaijan forms a
position on sovereignty, the inadmissibility of interference in
internal affairs and post-conflict realities," he said.
The analyst emphasized that from a diplomatic point of view,
such mutual statements do not immediately break relations, but
create a 'cold political distance'.
"That is, economic and technical cooperation may continue, but
political dialogue is moving to a more cautious and less trusting
phase. This is especially seen as a factor that could affect the
normalization process in the region. This incident is not a
reaction to a single resolution, but an episode of a broader
systemic tension. The main question between the parties is: how to
interpret the same events in different political languages, and how
long can these interpretations continue cooperation," Garayev
explained.
The analyst pointed out that the European Parliament's
resolution is simply a means of pressure on the two countries.
"On April 29, the thirteenth meeting of the Commission on the
delimitation of the state border and border security issues between
our countries was held in Aghveran, Armenia. Apparently, this
worries the European Parliament.
This meeting can be assessed as an important diplomatic step
that shows that the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia
has entered a practical stage. The European Parliament now also
understands that the means of pressure on the two countries are
running out. That is why it makes such unnecessary statements," he
noted.
