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Armenia and Azerbaijan skirmish, Europe worries

(BRUSSELS2) Restraint! This is the appeal launched by Milan Cabrnoch, president of the parliamentary delegation for EU relations with the Caucasus, as the tension escalates between Azerbaijan and Armenia. A rise in fever following the decision of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to pardon and promote Ramil Safarov to the rank of hero.

The straw that can break the camel's back

«We don't want war, but if we have to, we will fight and we will win.“, Thus estimated the Armenian president, Serge Sarkissian. The European Union is rightly concerned about this sudden increase in tensions. These last two years have been marked in particular by numerous clashes between the two armed forces at the border. "Clashes" which have, all the same, more than 60 deaths. "Our delegation was clear to our Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts that respect for human rights, the rule of law and the values ​​of the European Union will always be at the heart of their aspirations to integrate the EU.“, Firmly estimated Mr. Cabrnoch. Catherine Ashton (High Representative for Foreign Affairs) and Stefan Füle (European Commissioner for Enlargement) also called on the two governments to "exercise restraint, both on the ground and in their public statements, to prevent the situation from escalating". This incident comes at a delicate moment for Brussels since on August 23, the Commission allocated 19,5 million euros to Azerbaijan in order to reform its judicial system and its procedures for applying for visas. And undermines the policy of small steps, and the good old method of the European Union to seek to intensify bilateral relations;

 And risk of slippage in Nagorno-Karabakh

Because Armenia could express the possibility of recognizing the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh. Something that should easily aggravate a peace process already on the spot. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been battling for years for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh province. Attached to Azerbaijan under Soviet occupation, it proclaimed its independence after a war that killed 30.000 people between 1988 and 1994, when a ceasefire was signed with the help of Moscow. "How can we now negotiate with Aliyev? How can you imagine that?” asked Davit Babayan, the spokesman for Bako Sahakian, president of Nagorno-Karabakh. "For me, the negotiation process will probably be frozen for a while" he added...

The Safarov case

 On February 20, 2004, Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani officer sent to Budapest for an English course as part of NATO's Partnership for Peace (PPP) program, killed an Armenian army lieutenant with an ax. Gurguen Margarian, who followed the same courses. Sentenced the same year by the Hungarian authorities, he was serving his life sentence there until Baku obtained his extradition at the end of August. While Hungary had received all the guarantees that he will indeed finish his sentence in his country, Aliev, upon his arrival, welcomed Safarov as a national hero and also promoted him to the rank of major. He also gave him a house and donated his salary for the eight years he spent in prison in Hungary.

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