EU warns Azerbaijan against trying to violate Armenia’s territorial integrity

YEREVAN, January 17. /ARKA/. The EU has been passing clear messages to Azerbaijan that any violation of Armenia’s territorial integrity would be unacceptable and would have severe consequences for EU-Azeri relations, European Commission’s lead spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy Peter Stano told Armenpress.

“The European Union has spared no diplomatic efforts to help reach a mutually acceptable settlement of the conflict over the past few years. We have been in close contact with the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaderships, tirelessly reiterating our support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity of both countries and the resolution of issues exclusively by peaceful means. Our communication channels remain open,’ he said.

He said also that the EU has been using every opportunity to pass clear messages to Azerbaijan that any violation of Armenia’s territorial integrity would be unacceptable and will have severe consequences for our relations. “We remain firm and steadfast in this stance,’ Stano said.

“The President of the European Council Charles Michel, the High Representative /Vice-President Josep Borrell and the EU Special Representative Toivo Klaar continue their engagement for a sustainable and lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Stano told Armenpress.

On January 10 Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev renewed demands for an extraterritorial corridor to the  Nakhichevan exclave through Armenian southern region of Syunik bordering Iran. Aliyev argues that people and cargo transported to and from Nakhichevan through Armenia’s Syunik province must be exempt from Armenian border checks, which is  strongly rejected by Yerevan.

Azerbaijan also rejects Yerevan’s proposal to delimit the Armenian-Azerbaijani border based on maps from the 1970 sand refuses to withdraw Azerbaijani troops from Armenia's sovereign territories occupied between May 2021 and September. -0-