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EUFOA WELCOMES THE CONDEMNATION OF AZERBAIJAN'S ANTI-ARMENIAN XENOPHOBIA BY ALL EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS
armradio.am
06.09.2012 14:30
The European Friends of Armenia strongly welcomes the unprecedented
condemnations of Azerbaijan's anti-Armenian xenophobia by all European
institutions and the international community. "We are appalled that
the open provocation and physical threat by Azerbaijan's President
Ilham Aliyev against Armenia and Armenians around the world has put
the Karabakh conflict to the next level of escalation. This may be
in the short term internal political interest of the President, who
is facing "elections" in 2013. However, given his autocratic and so
far unchallenged power base, the risk for him and his country and
the damage caused stand in no relation to the short-lived political
gain achieved through anti-Armenian nationalism and xenophobia,"
the European Friends of Armenia said in a statement.
In the light of these events and following the repressions which became
apparent during the Eurovision contest in Baku, EuFoA demands that the
EU finally accepts that it must treat Azerbaijan more critically than
Belarus, which is known to have the same internally repressive regime
style, but without Azerbaijan's militarization or the state-promoted
xenophobia.
We were informed and strongly welcome that the EU's Foreign Ministers
will debate the issue at their upcoming GYMNICH meeting and that the
European Parliament will debate an urgency resolution next week.
"Why we implement EU funded programmes with the oil-rich and
notoriously anti-democratic government of Azerbaijan and conclude
large-scale energy deals with them, while we apply sanctions against
Belraus cannot be explained to European voters" comments EuFoA
Secretary General Dr Michael Kambeck. "Towards Armenia we can only
direct the warning not to step into the provocation trap which Aliyev
has set up. I share the emotions for calls to now take harsh steps
against Azerbaijan, but Armenia should be like a clever chess-player
and keep an eye on the long-term interests."
EuFoA also calls for steps to mend the relations with Hungary in time.
"While the extradition decision was at least very naive, Hungary and
Armenia share hundreds of years of historic ties and are both old
Christian countries. Azerbaijan's dirty game should not be allowed to
destroy such links. Hungary is a bridge between Eastern and Western
Europe and will need Armenia to enlarge this function. Armenia will
need Hungary for the upcoming EU visa-facilitation decision and
later for the Association Agreement. We welcome that the Hungarian
government has quickly issued the strongest condemnation and that the
Armenian President has called for a stop to burn Hungarian flags. Now
some work needs to be done behind the scenes to overcome the problem."
armradio.am
06.09.2012 14:30
The European Friends of Armenia strongly welcomes the unprecedented
condemnations of Azerbaijan's anti-Armenian xenophobia by all European
institutions and the international community. "We are appalled that
the open provocation and physical threat by Azerbaijan's President
Ilham Aliyev against Armenia and Armenians around the world has put
the Karabakh conflict to the next level of escalation. This may be
in the short term internal political interest of the President, who
is facing "elections" in 2013. However, given his autocratic and so
far unchallenged power base, the risk for him and his country and
the damage caused stand in no relation to the short-lived political
gain achieved through anti-Armenian nationalism and xenophobia,"
the European Friends of Armenia said in a statement.
In the light of these events and following the repressions which became
apparent during the Eurovision contest in Baku, EuFoA demands that the
EU finally accepts that it must treat Azerbaijan more critically than
Belarus, which is known to have the same internally repressive regime
style, but without Azerbaijan's militarization or the state-promoted
xenophobia.
We were informed and strongly welcome that the EU's Foreign Ministers
will debate the issue at their upcoming GYMNICH meeting and that the
European Parliament will debate an urgency resolution next week.
"Why we implement EU funded programmes with the oil-rich and
notoriously anti-democratic government of Azerbaijan and conclude
large-scale energy deals with them, while we apply sanctions against
Belraus cannot be explained to European voters" comments EuFoA
Secretary General Dr Michael Kambeck. "Towards Armenia we can only
direct the warning not to step into the provocation trap which Aliyev
has set up. I share the emotions for calls to now take harsh steps
against Azerbaijan, but Armenia should be like a clever chess-player
and keep an eye on the long-term interests."
EuFoA also calls for steps to mend the relations with Hungary in time.
"While the extradition decision was at least very naive, Hungary and
Armenia share hundreds of years of historic ties and are both old
Christian countries. Azerbaijan's dirty game should not be allowed to
destroy such links. Hungary is a bridge between Eastern and Western
Europe and will need Armenia to enlarge this function. Armenia will
need Hungary for the upcoming EU visa-facilitation decision and
later for the Association Agreement. We welcome that the Hungarian
government has quickly issued the strongest condemnation and that the
Armenian President has called for a stop to burn Hungarian flags. Now
some work needs to be done behind the scenes to overcome the problem."