BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 8. High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has once again made allegations against Azerbaijan concerning the situation in Karabakh.
As such, Borrell said that there are allegedly 150,000 Armenians who have left Azerbaijan’s Karabakh. Not to mention that these figures are fundamentally inaccurate, but they are also highly exaggerated, even compared to the numbers that EU officials were stating just a month ago. Even the Armenians, for example, mention a figure of 100,000 themselves.
In this regard, US analyst Irina Tsukerman told Trend that Borrell unquestionably mirrors the Armenian narrative and the numbers that come from Yerevan circles, as they have every incentive to inflate the figures to make the situation appear critical and suspicious.
“The underlying problem here is not the fake numbers so much as the implicit assumption that Armenians are once again victimized, that Azerbaijan allegedly caused them to lose their homes, and that they only left because they do not feel safe there. And Borrell's sources and bias need to be exposed because, by siding with Armenian propaganda, Borrell is actually undermining the peace process. Moreover, it is doubtful that Armenia alone could have such an impact on a high-ranking EU official, given that it's a small and poor country. More likely, any of the states using Armenia as a rhetorical weapon in the information war, especially after all the corruption scandals at the EU Parliament, may have influenced Borrell. If these powers are once again weaponizing conflicts to advance their interests, that is a problem for all of the EU and the free world, not just for Azerbaijan, and needs to be exposed and ended once and for all,” she said.
In turn, Peter Tase, US expert and scholar on the geopolitics of Eurasia, noted that the statement made by Josep Borrell is the outcome of Yerevan's propaganda machine against Azerbaijan.
“There is no international organization or individual state that can undermine Azerbaijan's legitimate rights to control its entire sovereign territory and propel noble aspirations for economic prosperity and regional peace. These objectives have consistently been at the forefront of Baku's foreign policy. It is a serious blunder for the leadership of the European Commission to reject the truth and continue to believe the anti-Azerbaijan propaganda coming from the fascist regime in Armenia. Borrell should resign from his current position, as he has proven to be a puppet of Yerevan and is incapable of effectively leading and executing the foreign policy of the European Commission,” the expert pointed out.
The EU is fully aware that 15,000 Armenians who left the region were Armed Forces personnel, and Josep Borrell's mention of 150,000 has caused a significant misunderstanding. Additionally, such inaccurate statements by Borrell not only undermine the EU's mediation efforts but also jeopardize EU Council President Charles Michel's mission in this regard.
However, as of yesterday, Azerbaijan and Armenia took an unprecedented step towards a long-awaited peace. The two sides exchanged military personnel, notably without any mediation from third parties. Consequently, individuals like Borrell, while acknowledging the significance of the agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, lack the authority to meddle in Azerbaijan's foreign policy or jeopardize its relations with the EU. It is high time for EU political leaders to abandon this two-sided game and eliminate double standards.