Aykhan Hajizadeh, head of the press service of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has strongly condemned the statement by Markus Ritter, head of the European Union civilian mission in Armenia, which, in the view of Armenians, suggested that Azerbaijan was preparing an attack in the spring of 2023.
“We strongly condemn the fact that the head of the European Union civilian mission, relying on the false and slanderous statements of the Armenian side, expressed the opinion that Azerbaijan is allegedly preparing for an attack, and presented the EU mission’s main task as protecting Armenia from Azerbaijan,” Hajizadeh said.
“We have repeatedly emphasised the need to prevent the abuses of this mission, which are aimed at disrupting the process of normalising relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” the spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted in his comment.
According to him, “the European Union mission must not succumb to false and slanderous statements and must act in accordance with its mandate.”
The head of the European Union civilian mission in Armenia, meanwhile, did not say that Azerbaijan was preparing an attack, but rather that “many Armenians believe there will be an attack by Azerbaijan in the spring.” “If that does not happen, our mission has already succeeded,” Ritter stressed.
