Azernews.Az

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution on the ongoing talks on an association agreement with Azerbaijan, which aims to replace the bilateral action plan in the EU`s cooperation with the country.

The document was passed with a 520-32 vote last Wednesday at a plenary session of the parliament in Strasbourg.

The session participants adopted a similar resolution on Armenia, Azerbaijan`s long-time foe.

Prior to the voting, European MPs expressed hope that the negotiations on association agreements would significantly contribute to a peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh. Speakers also said these agreements would promote human rights protection and democratic reform in the two countries and increase the EU`s role in these efforts.

The EU and Azerbaijan are maintaining relations under the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which was signed in 1996 and came into force in 1999. In 2009, the EU passed a decision to start negotiations on the conclusion of bilateral association agreements with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev told the press that the EP resolution on Azerbaijan reflects the respect for the country`s territorial integrity.

About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory has been under the occupation of Armenian armed forces since a ceasefire was signed in 1994 following a lengthy war.

The resolution stresses that the unresolved Nagorno Karabakh dispute poses obstacles for the stability and development of the South Caucasus region and calls for the EU`s more active role in the conflict settlement efforts.

The resolution says that association agreements with Azerbaijan and Armenia will not be signed within the frames of the EU Eastern Partnership program until the occupied Azerbaijani territories are freed, these lands come under Azerbaijan`s control and refugees displaced during the 1990s war return home.

Abdullayev regarded the resolution as a victory of Azerbaijani diplomacy and evidence that the international community supports Baku`s fair stance.

According to Abdullayev, the document also says the occupation of the territory of one state by another is a violation of international norms that runs counter to the fundamental principles of the European Neighborhood Policy and harms the implementation of the Eastern Partnership program, which aims to boost the EU`s cooperation with its ex-Soviet partners.

Abdullayev said the resolution cites the need to investigate the facts of illegal settlements of population in Azerbaijan`s occupied territories.

It also called on Armenia to stop sending conscripts to the occupied territories and at the same time welcomed Azerbaijan`s position on the implementation of confidence-building measures, Abdullayev said.

The resolution also calls on Azerbaijan`s authorities not to prevent ethnic Armenians` entry to the country and to lift the ban on making phone calls to Armenia.

Russian analyst Alexei Vlasov believes the European Parliament`s resolution is a triumph of Azerbaijani diplomacy.

Of course, the moral success has been achieved by the Azerbaijani side, especially regarding the issue of illegal settlements, Vlasov, deputy dean of the Moscow State University`s History Department, told Trend agency.

On the other hand, Vlasov said, the format of the Eastern Partnership is too loose and amorphous for these decisions to push the parties toward compromise and Yerevan to implement European Parliament resolutions.

Vlasov said it was noticeable at the last Eastern Partnership summit that when it comes to the South Caucasus issues, European bureaucrats` statements are extremely vague and unspecific.

Are these statements able to `scare` Yerevan? I think they are not, he said.