Nathalie Loiseau, a French MEP and chair of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defense, says the blockade of Lachin Corridor is “illegal, cruel and contradictory with Baku’s claims that the territory belongs to Azerbaijan.”
“Which country would intentionally prevent its own people from receiving food or medicine?” Loiseau told POLITICO.
She also pointed out that the EU is a major buyer of energy coming from Azerbaijan. “It makes our voice important. We mustn’t shy away from defending universal values. If we don’t do it, who will act?”
Markéta Gregorová, an MEP from the Greens/EFA grouping and a member of both the parliamentary delegation to Armenia and the EU-Azerbaijan Cooperation Council, told POLITICO: “We could play a bigger role when we are helping negotiate.”
“Given we have a lot of economic and other relations with both countries, there are ways in which we can persuade them — but we aren’t using these.”
She added that there is a common understanding in the European Parliament that more needs to be done. “But we’re a little bit dependent on what the Commission and Council decide to do.”
According to Gregorová, an agreement signed between Brussels and Baku last summer to step up the import of natural gas in an effort to replace sanctioned Russian supplies has undermined the EU’s ability to apply pressure. “Given the memorandum of understanding on gas from Azerbaijan, it’s clear that has an impact, and the reaction has been much weaker and slower.”
