European lawmakers passed a (non-binding) resolution condemning the actions of Azerbaijani troops and calling on the bloc to impose sanctions on Baku
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The European Parliament has adopted a resolution accusing Azerbaijan of carrying out “ethnic cleansing” against Armenian residents of Nagorno-Karabakh and calling on the bloc to impose sanctions on Baku.
In the resolution, EU lawmakers say they believe “the current situation amounts to a purge” and “strongly condemn the threats and violence by Azerbaijani troops” and call on the bloc’s 27 member states to “extend targeted sanctions against individuals to impose on Azerbaijan.” government” for the aggression and alleged human rights violations.
The document refers to the events triggered by the September 19 raid, when Azerbaijan, in a lightning offensive lasting just 24 hours, recaptured the now former separatist region that had been ruled by the Armenian authorities for the past three decades, although officially belonged to Azerbaijani territory. The separatist government has agreed to disband by the end of the year, but Azerbaijani authorities are already in control of the region.
Almost all of the 120,000 ethnic Armenians living in the region, much of which Baku had already recaptured in a six-week war in September 2020, were in the process of fleeing to Armenia fearing persecution and reprisals and experiencing multiple episodes of violence at the hands of Azerbaijani troops.
A non-binding solution
The European Parliament also called on the bloc to “reduce the EU’s dependence on gas exports from Azerbaijan” and called on Brussels to review relations with the country.
The resolution, adopted with 491 votes in favor and 9 against, does not oblige the Union to act. But it will infuriate Baku, which has for weeks strenuously rejected accusations of “ethnic cleansing” and publicly called on Armenians to stay in Nagorno-Karabakh and “reintegrate” into Azerbaijan.
For their part, European diplomats say that sanctions against Baku are not currently under discussion and that measures will probably only be taken if the situation worsens further.
Last year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed a “strategic partnership agreement” with Baku to more than double gas imports by 2027, after the bloc had to forego Russian supplies due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.