European Parliament Reaffirms its Recognition of Artsakh’s Right to Self-Determination

BRUSSELS—The European Parliament adopted a resolution reaffirming an earlier measure that protects the rights of the people of Artsakh to self-determination.

This new resolution. which was passed with an overwhelming majority, was a direct result of Azerbaijan’s massive efforts to undermine the peaceful resolution to the Karabakh conflict and to call into question Armenia’s developing relations, ahead of summit next week where an EU-Armenia cooperation agreement is due to be ratified.

In July, the European Parliament approved a similar resolution in which Artsakh’s right to self-determination is protected.

The current resolution is significant because it outlines provisions of the EU-Armenia partnership, which is expected to be discussed next week at a summit in Brussels.

It was no surprise then that Azerbaijan, using tactics familiar to European lawmakers, introduced various anti-Armenian amendments, which included a provision that represented Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan.

Armenia’s delegation at the European Parliament, with it’s allies on the legislative body and Armenian organizations in Europe were able to thwart Azerbaijan’s “Laundromat” tactics and threw out all the anti-Armenian amendments, reaffirming Armenia as an important partner to Armenia.

It is expected that Armenia and the EU will sign a cooperation agreement on November 25.