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EUROPEAN VOICE: SAFAROV RELEASE MADE BAKU LOOK MORALLY SUSPECT IN WORLD'S EYES
PanARMENIAN.Net
September 13, 2012 - 17:55 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan used to mind what policymakers in Brussels
and NATO thought. Now it does not, European Voice said in its "Moral
Compass Goes Awry" article.
"Azerbaijan and Hungary both have serious questions to answer about
the case of Ramil Safarov, an Azeri military officer attending a
NATO-run English-language course in Budapest, who murdered a sleeping
Armenian fellow-student with an axe in 2004. But the most unpleasant
consequences are for Brussels and Washington, DC.
Even if the two countries had been at war, Safarov's behaviour would
have been criminal. Killing an unarmed enemy combatant in his sleep,
in cold blood, in a neutral country is wrong.
The Hungarian authorities have not explained convincingly why they
last month let Safarov - one of their country's most controversial
prisoners - go back to Azerbaijan. So the allegation that Hungary
took this step in return for a large lump of Azeri money (some say
~@3 billion) deserves scrutiny.
The Azeri reaction in instantly pardoning Safarov, awarding him
back pay and an apartment, and treating him like a national hero, is
deplorable. Glorifying Safarov has made Azerbaijan look hysterical
and morally suspect in world eyes. That is hardly a triumph for
Azeri diplomacy. Hungary looks at best gullible and, at worst, greedy
and deceitful.
But the big point is that both countries seem to think they can get
away with their behaviour. The case illustrates the huge collapse in
the moral authority of the EU and NATO since 2004. In preceding years,
joining Western clubs was a matter of great pride for those newly
admitted, and of great priority for those outside. They took care
not to break the rules and (sincerely or not) to please international
opinion.
Azerbaijan used to mind what policymakers in Brussels and NATO
thought. Now it does not. It sees no realistic chance of membership
in either organisation. It is bulging with oil money. It exploits
cannily its useful geopolitical niche as a place to spy on (and
perhaps bomb) Iran.
Hungary is not bulging with money. Indeed, its public finances feature
gaping holes. But it too cocks a snook at Brussels (and Washington).
Victor Orban, the prime minister, makes his own decisions (often bad
ones) and waits for the world to get used to them.
The knots that bound countries' behaviour in Europe since the
mid-1990s once seemed indestructible. Now they are fraying fast,"
the article said.
PanARMENIAN.Net
September 13, 2012 - 17:55 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan used to mind what policymakers in Brussels
and NATO thought. Now it does not, European Voice said in its "Moral
Compass Goes Awry" article.
"Azerbaijan and Hungary both have serious questions to answer about
the case of Ramil Safarov, an Azeri military officer attending a
NATO-run English-language course in Budapest, who murdered a sleeping
Armenian fellow-student with an axe in 2004. But the most unpleasant
consequences are for Brussels and Washington, DC.
Even if the two countries had been at war, Safarov's behaviour would
have been criminal. Killing an unarmed enemy combatant in his sleep,
in cold blood, in a neutral country is wrong.
The Hungarian authorities have not explained convincingly why they
last month let Safarov - one of their country's most controversial
prisoners - go back to Azerbaijan. So the allegation that Hungary
took this step in return for a large lump of Azeri money (some say
~@3 billion) deserves scrutiny.
The Azeri reaction in instantly pardoning Safarov, awarding him
back pay and an apartment, and treating him like a national hero, is
deplorable. Glorifying Safarov has made Azerbaijan look hysterical
and morally suspect in world eyes. That is hardly a triumph for
Azeri diplomacy. Hungary looks at best gullible and, at worst, greedy
and deceitful.
But the big point is that both countries seem to think they can get
away with their behaviour. The case illustrates the huge collapse in
the moral authority of the EU and NATO since 2004. In preceding years,
joining Western clubs was a matter of great pride for those newly
admitted, and of great priority for those outside. They took care
not to break the rules and (sincerely or not) to please international
opinion.
Azerbaijan used to mind what policymakers in Brussels and NATO
thought. Now it does not. It sees no realistic chance of membership
in either organisation. It is bulging with oil money. It exploits
cannily its useful geopolitical niche as a place to spy on (and
perhaps bomb) Iran.
Hungary is not bulging with money. Indeed, its public finances feature
gaping holes. But it too cocks a snook at Brussels (and Washington).
Victor Orban, the prime minister, makes his own decisions (often bad
ones) and waits for the world to get used to them.
The knots that bound countries' behaviour in Europe since the
mid-1990s once seemed indestructible. Now they are fraying fast,"
the article said.