“The inclusion of new items in the mandate of the EU mission, in addition to those agreed upon at the talks in Prague in October 2022, was unexpected for us and, frankly, made us distrust. Besides, after two months, a new mission was hastily created – this time for a period of two years,” Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, said in an interview with Report, News.Az reports.
“Of course, Armenia can invite the mission of the EU and other countries to its territory. But since the mission is located on the border with Azerbaijan, it is necessary to take into account the position and concerns of Azerbaijan. And this mission is not civilian, as it was stated; it included former military and police officers,” he said.
“Our assumptions were justified. Armenia is abusing the presence of the mission on its territory. Recently, the Armenian army fired at our positions on the conditional border. You are probably familiar with the statement of the Ministry of Defense, which says that Armenia is provoking Azerbaijan to fire back. The goal is to create a false impression for the EU mission and artificially exacerbate the situation. Armenia thinks that with the arrival of the EU mission, its security is assured, and now it can focus on continuing its destructive activities in Karabakh.
We believe the South Caucasus region should not be an arena of geopolitical rivalry. But Armenia takes a different position,” Hajiyev added.
Source : News.Az