EU has momentum to end dependence on Azerbaijani gas and sanction Aliyev regime — MEP
This fake trial is one more proof that the regime of Baku is undermining basic human rights, French MEP François-Xavier Bellamy told Alpha News, commenting on the trial of the former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh.
“There has been a conflict, and the conflict has its rules. Even in war, you need to respect the law. And international law stipulates that you can’t take hostages from a war and consider them as political prisoners. They are political prisoners. And I stand, we stand here in the European Parliament with the former leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh, who has been arrested, who is now in detention in very bad conditions in Azerbaijan,” he said.
Speaking about the EU’s role in supporting the hostages, the MEP noted that pressure needs to be exerted.
“Here in the European Parliament, we ask the Commission to put pressure on Azerbaijan so that these prisoners are released. We have a momentum now because one of the main reasons why Europe has remained silent about this issue is the fact that in concrete terms, Azerbaijan was blackmailing Europe with gas deliveries. And now we know that with the new politics of the United States, we will be able to get more supply in terms of gas and LNG from America.
So we need to regain our independence from Azerbaijan so that Aliyev doesn’t use this lever on us to create pressure. So we need to put an end to these gas deliveries. We need to put sanctions on Aliyev and his regime. We need to show that the European Union is firm on its principles and that we are asking for an immediate release of the political prisoners in Azerbaijan,” Bellamy stressed.