In an op-ed for Le Monde, former NATO Secretary-General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, calls on Brussels to move beyond its policy of equidistance between Armenia, which has chosen to turn towards the West, and Azerbaijan, which is asserting itself within the camp of aggressive autocracies under Russian influence.
“Europe should play a role in mediating negotiations towards a lasting peace agreement. But its approach must reflect the reality that Armenia has chosen the community of European democracies, while Azerbaijan sits in the camp of aggressive autocracies. A lack of European clarity and ambition could endanger Armenia’s young democracy and jeopardize its geopolitical pivot,” Rasmussen says.
According to him, the new approach should start at the April 5 trilateral summit in Brussels, where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will host Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
