Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 23 / Trend U. Sadikhova /
Azerbaijan has recently made progress in many areas. But Armenia, on the contrary, lost much, İulian Chifu, professor at the National School of Political and Administrative Studies in Bucharest, the director of the center for conflict prevention and early warning, said.
"This is stipulated by the fact that Azerbaijan is of great importance as a country that can help in providing Europe with energy security," the expert told Trend.
The EU countries will continue to support Baku till Azerbaijan is ready to provide Europe with its energy resources, Chifu said.
However, the position of Western countries can change if Azerbaijan does not sell its energy resources to Europe, but to Asia, for example, China, he said.
"Perhaps, the powerful Armenian Diaspora in France will play the role in this case for Europe towards Azerbaijan and Armenia," he said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.
The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding negotiations to resolve the dispute.
Armenia has failed to implement U.N. Security Council resolutions stipulating the liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.