“Since the second Karabakh war, from 2021 to 2026, the European Parliament has adopted 14 resolutions that lie about Azerbaijan in a very offensive way,” Aliyev said. “The latest one [was adopted] just four days before this summit.”
Aliyev said that Azerbaijan “put an end to separatism” in Karabakh in line with international law. He went on to announce that Azerbaijan’s parliament will sever all ties with the European Union’s legislative body in response to the “provocative” resolution overwhelmingly passed on April 30.
The resolution demanded the immediate release of Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan and reaffirmed support for the Karabakh Armenians’ right to return to their homeland, recaptured by Baku in 2023, safely and “under international guarantees.” In a clear reference to the destruction of Karabakh’s Armenian churches, it also said “those responsible for the destruction of Armenian cultural and religious heritage” must be held accountable.
Roberta Metsola, the European Parliament speaker attending the Yerevan summit in person, was quick to hit back at Aliyev. While its resolutions “may cause inconvenience to many,” the EU legislature “will never change our working methods and the positions we adopt,” Metsola said as several dozen Karabakh Armenian refugees demonstrated outside the summit venue.
In contrast to the European Parliament, the Armenian government has essentially stopped criticizing Baku since Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian initialed a bilateral peace treaty in Washington last August. Pashinian has declined to even denounce the recent demolition of Karabakh’s largest Armenian church. He has repeatedly said that the refugees should forget about returning to Karabakh.
“We are now working closely with Azerbaijan to consolidate and institutionalize peace between our two countries,” Pashinian told the summit.
He said he hopes to attend a European Political Community summit in Azerbaijan which is due to take place in 2028.