The results of the six months of 2022 are excellent for Azerbaijan in terms of foreign policy. The extension of Azerbaijan’s chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement is a demonstration of the credibility the country enjoys. It also shows that Azerbaijan is respected by many countries around the world, regardless of the position those countries hold, be it pro-American, pro-European, pro-Russian or pro-Chinese. Azerbaijan uses this leading position to facilitate regional and international common ground and enhance its own prestige.
The former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan and former US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Matthew Bryza, said this in an interview with Day.Az.
He also reminded that the European Union and Azerbaijan are working to deepen bilateral relations and take them to a new level.
“The parties are working on the final part of the new agreement. If the EU used to play a defining role in the bilateral relations in the past, demanding political and economic reforms from Azerbaijan, now the approach has changed. The relationship between the European Union and Azerbaijan is now one of equals,” he said.
Commenting on the lack of real results in the normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, the former co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group said that he believed it was obvious that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan would like the relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia to be normalized.
“The normalization of the relations between the two countries implies the signing of a peace treaty, as well as the delimitation and demarcation of the international borders. However, Pashinyan continues to face criticism from the domestic opposition. This category of people cannot accept the fact that Armenia lost the Second Karabakh War, that Azerbaijan won on the battlefield. The opposition refuses to accept the terms of the trilateral agreement of November 10, 2020. Pashinyan is trying to implement all the points of the agreement, but the voices of the opposition are growing louder. Pashinyan’s opponents accuse him of betraying Armenia’s interests, since one of the key points of the trilateral agreement is the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the entire territory of Karabakh.
“Thus, Armenia has failed to fulfill its obligations, because it is psychologically difficult for a large number of opposition-minded people in Armenia to accept Azerbaijan’s victory and Armenia’s loss. But, in my opinion, with each passing month, more and more Armenian citizens are beginning to realize that the country must come to terms with the new realities in the region, recognize that the war is over and fulfill the commitments it made to Azerbaijan under the Statement of November 2020. It will take some time, however, as Pashinyan is now concerned with the situation inside the country and seeks to consolidate his victory in the June 2021 parliamentary elections,” Matthew Bryza summed up.
