This individual announced that he had “good news on the humanitarian air corridor” and said: “His Serene Highness Prince Michael of Liechtenstein expressed readiness to lead a humanitarian airlift to besieged ‘Artsakh’ (quotation marks are editorial) and to be on the board that will fly to the region, bringing much-needed food and medication arranged by the Aznavour Foundation. According to one of our partners in this humanitarian mission, Impact Investing Solutions from Switzerland, ‘together with H.S.H. Prince Michael, other world leaders, current and former heads of state are also ready to lead necessary airlifts to Nagorno-Karabakh, where 120,000 people, including 30,000 children, are deprived of food and medication for more than 8 months already’.”
After the spectacular failure in the UN Security Council, with the convoy of trucks with “humanitarian cargo” stuck on the approach to the Azerbaijani Lachin checkpoint, Ruben Vardanyan and Co. need at least some reason for optimism. Time is running out, too: after so many days of crying about a “humanitarian crisis” they need either to present real evidence of starvation (which does not and will never exist), or to shut down the campaign and publicly admit that there was no “blockade” to begin with. They are all the more reluctant to admit that all the dramatic hysterics in front of microphones and cameras have essentially come to nothing.
And now they are all: yay, hurray, our prince in a shining airplane is coming!
But what is the reality?
First of all, there are at least fifty such princes in tiny Liechtenstein (population 38,000). Prince Michael does not hold any official post, nor does he have any claim to the throne. Today the country is headed by Prince Hans-Adam II, the regent is Alois, and Michael is not even in the back row. What he is known for, however, is his ties to Russian business. Back in 2010, it was revealed that he is a co-owner of the St. Petersburg-based Baltinvestbank and the sole beneficiary of the company that owns 19.2% of Baltinvestbank, as well as the head of the Geopolitical Intelligence Services holding and the European Centre of Austrian Economics Foundation think tank. In other words, the “airlift” con is being hyped by individuals closely connected with Russian business and “shadow” politics, especially in terms of influence on European institutions.
But a con does not stop being a con just because it features the names of members of a royal family. The most important thing to remember is that Azerbaijan has full control over its airspace, and flying here without the permission of the legal authorities of our country is not even theoretically possible. It does not matter whether this venture is called a “humanitarian air corridor”, “airlift” or something else: uninvited “guests” are first forced to land, and if they fail to comply, they are shot down. It would also be best not to forget that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces have both technical capabilities and legal grounds to destroy the Khojaly airfield in the event of a serious incident. And it does not matter whether the President of Armenia or a prince of Liechtenstein is on board or on the ground. Suffice it to recall that Serzh Sargsyan promised to “arrive on the first flight to Stepanakert airport” only to make it look as if he had been misunderstood after Azerbaijan’s warnings.
If Prince Michael of Liechtenstein has now decided to try on this role, it is his choice, his responsibility and the shreds of his reputation. And if he chooses to drown it not in the Rhine but in the Hakari River, so be it.
