Azerbaijan accuses top EU diplomat of 'instigating militarization and aggressive policy towards Azerbaijan'

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Azerbaijan on Tuesday accused the EU's top diplomat of "instigating militarization and an aggressive policy towards Azerbaijan."

In a statement on the ministry's website, Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizada rejected remarks by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell – also known as the high representative – about Azerbaijan's alleged claims on Armenian territories.

"The blatant misinterpretation of facts by the EU High Representative is an open disregard of Azerbaijan’s legitimate interests, and such threatening rhetoric is a clear example of double standards that further exacerbates Azerbaijan-EU relations,” said the statement.

"While fully distorting the thoughts of Azerbaijan’s President [Ilham Aliyev] about the historical facts related to the territories of Azerbaijan and Armenia, the High Representative is instigating militarization and an aggressive policy towards Azerbaijan," he said.

The diplomat stressed that "Azerbaijan has always been committed to negotiations, peace, and stability with Armenia."

"Azerbaijan’s measures ending aggression and separatism pave the way for concluding a peace agreement with Armenia," he stressed, referring at least in part to the Azerbaijani army’s anti-terrorism operation last September in its once-occupied territory of Karabakh to establish constitutional order, leading illegal separatist forces in the region to surrender.

Hajizada also criticized Borrell for expressing solidarity with France over the expulsion last December of its diplomats from Azerbaijan, saying: "Such a biased statement, while ignoring baseless measures against Azerbaijan’s diplomats in France, demonstrates how this institution is negatively affected by certain countries, which openly neglect all the rules and guidelines of diplomatic conduct, and refuse to conduct investigations.”

He added: "Azerbaijan, besides being committed to its international obligations and international law, will resolutely prevent attempts to legitimize any claims and threatening language against its national interest.”

On Jan. 22, Borrell said that the EU was "concerned about the claims of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the territory of Armenia."

He said "any violation of Armenian sovereignty is fraught with serious consequences for relations between Brussels and Baku."

Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that also opened the door to normalization. ​​​​​​​

Following an anti-terrorism operation last September, Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh.​​​​​​​

As Karabakh was liberated from some 30 years of Armenian occupation, France expressed support for Azerbaijan.