The historic summit between the European Union and Armenia, which began in Yerevan on 5 May, took place amid rising tensions between Azerbaijan and the EU. This situation arose after the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for the release of Armenian prisoners of war and criticising the treatment of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.
In response, Azerbaijani lawmakers voted to suspend all cooperation with the European Parliament. Last week, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the EU ambassador to express its opposition to the Parliament’s resolution.
During his address to the European Political Community (EPC) conference via video link on 4 May, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) of showing “double standards” by imposing sanctions on Azerbaijan’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly.
Protests occurred outside the heavily secured venue of the EPC summit, where demonstrators displayed photographs of Armenian prisoners currently held in Azerbaijan. Aram Sargsyan, the leader of the Democratic Party of Armenia, stated to the Armenian Press Agency that European officials appear to be supporting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan ahead of the upcoming elections while neglecting the plight of Armenians imprisoned in Azerbaijan.
This article used information from The Associated Press.
