EU Ambassador to Azerbaijan Receives Warning for Threats Against MEPs Visiting Armenia

The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, have condemned and deemed unacceptable the behavior of Azerbaijan's ambassador to the EU, Vagif Sadigov, who issued threats against Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) that visited Armenia and examined the situation at the border with Azerbaijan. This was reported by Armenpress.

Vagif Sadigov was summoned to the European External Action Service (EEAS) for his threatening remarks made on Twitter regarding the MEPs. It should be noted that Sadigov posted a tweet about the European Parliament delegation's visit to Armenia, making threats towards the MEPs. He included an image and description of a sniper rifle manufactured in Azerbaijan, captioning it, "They know what they are doing to defend themselves. The Azerbaijani-produced 'Istiglal IST-14.5' sniper rifle has an effective firing range of about 3000 meters. Stay away from the state border of Azerbaijan…"

The media outlet OC Media covered the issue, quoting responses from an EU spokesperson and head of the delegation that visited Armenia, MEP Nathalie Loiseau, to Sadigov’s tweet. The EU spokesperson emphasized that such behavior is condemned and is unbecoming of an ambassador accredited to the EU.

Euobserver also addressed the threatening statement from the Azerbaijani ambassador, speaking with MEP Nathalie Loiseau, who led the delegation to Armenia. Loiseau stated that she had sent letters to the President of the European Parliament and High Representative Josep Borrell regarding Sadigov’s remarks. A spokesperson for President Roberta Metsola responded that any threats directed towards MEPs are unacceptable. "We are looking into this matter," the spokesperson said.

From Josep Borrell’s office, it was indicated that the EEAS has summoned the Azerbaijani ambassador regarding this comment and made it clear that they expect this to be the last time such disrespectful behavior from Azerbaijani diplomacy will be displayed towards EU institutions and their representatives.

Nathalie Loiseau added that Sadigov’s threatening and offensive remarks were not the only ones directed at MEPs who visited Armenia, clarifying that other Azerbaijani officials have also labeled them as corrupt. Loiseau emphasized that the President of Azerbaijan himself uses similar rhetoric.

It is worth noting that Sadigov had also commented on a post by the spokesperson for Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ani Badalyan, who had tweeted about the MEPs’ visit, quoting their call addressed to Azerbaijan to "immediately withdraw from Armenian territory and respect its international legal obligations, including halting the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor."