Today, the European Parliament will vote on the resolution authored on the occasion of COP 29 regarding human rights in Azerbaijan and relations with Armenia, the discussions of which took place the day before. It must be admitted that these debates were actually a one-way game, during which all the speeches were a blow to Aliyev's bloody regime.
Even the commissioner representing the European Commission, Nicholas Schmidt, was quite tough on the executive power. One can argue for a long time that it was another blah-blah-blah, that some MPs have their own interests, that work was done beforehand by the office of the Armenian National Democratic Party, the Republican Party, or the Diaspora. That all that was a phenomenon that did not change anything, had nothing to do with real politics. By the way, I myself will agree with a number of such opinions, I will add a couple of things myself. Let me give examples: 1. Appraisals pleasing to the Armenian ear were regularly combined with the praise of Pashinyan's administration's anti-Russian policy and further expectations. And it is difficult to say, "in the beginning was the egg or the chicken?" 2. The empty rhetoric about the "democratic progress of Armenia" that led to the loss of Artsakh by the Nicolaitan adventurer betrayal was deafening, especially to me, who worked with Brussels for 15 years, and spent 15 months on trumped-up charges and with the same Brussels' almost total silence, which was nothing like Brussels. in prison. But along with pessimism, let's try to see other circumstances as well.
Do not accuse the entire European Parliament of hypocrisy. Yes, among the speakers there are people for whom it was just an opportunity to reprimand Moscow, whose political forces will use these discussions to get better terms in future relations with Aliyev. Who turns a blind eye to Nikol's authoritarian transformation within Armenia? However, beside them there were many deputies who were disinterested in presenting their own opinion, who did not represent the cynical and duplicitous European elite, but the European opposition. Who themselves dream of a real Europe based on Christian civilization, in which Armenia has earned its unique place with history and culture. 7 out of 8 factions of the European Parliament presented their own draft of the relevant resolution. At the moment, the work of combining these versions and obtaining a unified text is underway, and it is difficult to say what it will look like in the end. The future usefulness of that paper would depend mainly on Armenia's diplomacy, that is, don't have too many practical hopes.
However, it is obvious that such discussions, in which we would talk about Artsakh, its forced depopulation, Armenian captives and political prisoners kept in Baku, the destruction of Armenian spiritual and cultural heritage, the need to punish Azerbaijan, are impossible in the current parliament of Armenia. Moreover, in exactly the same days, when Alen Simonyan, holding the chair of the Speaker of the National Assembly, assumed the role of a small-scale spokesman of Aliyev propaganda and brazenly justified the depopulation of Artsakh and the forced displacement of Artsakh Armenians, non-Armenians in Brussels assumed the role of defender of Armenian interests. Regardless of geopolitical games, interests and developments. , those discussions prove that there are prerequisites for reviving the Artsakh issue in the European direction as well. This is in response to the question "what can be done?" P.S. 1. Of course, it was not necessary to hand over Artsakh and instead receive multilingual indignation about the loss of Artsakh.
But that is another story, where Washington and Moscow, Brussels and Paris, Berlin and Prague are not as guilty as Yerevan and Stepanakert, Gyumri and Vanadzor, Armavir and Vardenis... P.S. 2. In order for a specific, albeit small, but clear result to remain from those discussions and resolution, it is necessary to do at least the following under these conditions. On November 18-22, an official delegation from the European Parliament will participate in COP 29 in Baku, consisting of 15 deputies.
All of them should be showered one by one with calls, letters, and exhortations and demand that they definitely meet all Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and the military-political leadership of Artsakh in Baku, and after their return, hold a separate press conference on that issue. (Composition of the delegation: here.).
ARMEN ASHOTIAN
Vice President of RPA
"Dzoraghbyur" TSC