Azernews.Az

BAKU – The European Union has responded to the Azerbaijani government’s protest over a European lawmaker’s recent unauthorized visit to the Armenia-occupied Nagorno Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, according to the EU delegation to Azerbaijan.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton wrote in a letter that she was unaware of the visit paid by the European Parliament's rapporteur on Armenia Tomasz Poreba. Ashton indicated that the EP is an independent institution and passes decisions on its own, therefore, the EU has no authority to take action on Poreba’s move.

The EU said it honors the territorial integrity of states and believes visits to a given country’s territory are to be paid upon agreement with the country in question and in line with international law.

During his visit to Nagorno Karabakh, paid on December 19 without Baku’s permission, Poreba, a Polish lawmaker, held meetings with the leaders of the unrecognized republic run by ethnic Armenians in the occupied Azerbaijani region. Further, head of the EU delegation to Azerbaijan and the Polish ambassador were summoned to Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry and handed a protest note. The ministry included Poreba in the list of persons considered "persona non grata" in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994. The separatist regime in the Nagorno Karabakh region proclaimed so-called independence in 1991, which is a blatant violation of international law and has not been recognized by any country.