Baku, Azerbaijan, April 11
By Ali Gasimov - Trend:
Armenian officials turn into political speculation the paragraph of the agreement signed between the EU and Armenia concerning the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend.
Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Karen Nazaryan expressed hope today in the Armenian parliament that the European Union will also note this position in the agreement with Azerbaijan.
“Armenian officials at various levels are trying to speak on behalf of the European Union and turn into political speculation and propaganda the agreement signed between Armenia and the EU,” Hajiyev said.
Hikmet Hajiyev firstly noted that the EU does not have a mandate and authority to deal with the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“Despite the groundless claims of the Armenian side, the principles noted in the preamble of the cooperation agreement between the EU and Armenia referring to the Helsinki Final Act do not have the nature of a legal obligation. The official EU message to the Azerbaijani side notes that according to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the preamble of the above agreement does not bear a legal obligation. Thereby, the EU only once again confirms that Yerevan is one of the sides of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” he said.
Hajiyev stressed that the EU has repeatedly, at a high level, expressed support for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within the framework of internationally recognized borders and the sovereignty of the republic.
“President of the Council of the European Union Donald Tusk in February 2017 in Brussels during a joint press conference with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev stressed that the EU supports the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Azerbaijan. The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, at a press conference held with the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov in the framework of the 15th meeting of the EU-Azerbaijan Cooperation Council in February this year in Brussels, noted that the EU fully supports the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Azerbaijan,” Hajiyev said.
Hajiyev noted that the joint declaration of the EU Eastern Partnership Summit held in Brussels on November 24, 2017 once again expresses unequivocal support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of the countries of the Eastern Partnership.
“It should be specially emphasized that the Joint Declaration refers to the EU's Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy, where the territorial integrity of EU member states and their neighbors is noted within the internationally recognized borders. In another paragraph of the Joint Declaration it is emphasized that all conflicts that have occurred in the territory of the Eastern Partnership countries should be resolved on the basis of norms and principles of international law. The resolution of the European Parliament adopted in 2013 notes that the occupation by one country of the Eastern Partnership of the territory of another member country violates the fundamental principles and objectives of the Eastern Partnership and stressed that the conflict must be resolved on the basis of UN Security Council resolutions No 822, 853, 874 and 884. So, both in the statements of high-ranking EU officials and in the EU documents, the full and unequivocal support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan was repeatedly stressed,” Hikmat Hajiyev said.