How Azerbaijan Reacted to the Sending of an EU Civil Mission to Armenia: Hayrapetyan

Azerbaijan analyst Tatev Hayrapetyan wrote on her Telegram channel: "At the end of last year, Aliyev made very negative statements about the discussions regarding the extension of the EU civil mission's mandate. It is understandable why: this complicates the possibilities for Azerbaijan to escalate aggression. Since yesterday, the Azerbaijani media space has been publishing on this topic with several interesting emphases: they are attempting to portray the dispatching of the EU civil mission as an anti-Russian, anti-Turkish, and anti-Iranian action. They are irritated by the fact that Moscow and Tehran have not issued harsh criticisms regarding such EU activity. From this, one can conclude that intense diplomatic efforts are being made to elicit such reactions. It is crucial for the Armenian side to communicate the presence of the EU civil mission correctly with respect to Russia and Iran to avoid further complications.

I am confident that Azerbaijan will do everything to create problems for us. It is noteworthy that Azerbaijan is collaborating very intensively with the EU, but for some reason, this is not perceived by them as anti-Russian or anti-Iranian. Is the entrance and positioning of Israel under Iran's nose not anti-Iranian as well? The nervous reactions from Azerbaijan regarding the dispatching of the EU civil mission serve to confirm that they have intentions for new aggression and perceive this as an obstacle.

As for whether the presence of the EU mission will prevent Azerbaijani aggression, in my opinion, it will reduce the possibilities, but to prevent such adventures, we need a strong and capable army so that Azerbaijan does not engage in such recklessness. The sending of the EU mission is important, but this is an exclusive time for us; every day is precious, I would say, invaluable. The authorities should not waste these two years sitting idle, waiting to claim later that we thought the EU would not allow Azerbaijan to attack. The EU civil mission has not taken such responsibility upon itself."