EU Mission In Armenia May Jeopardize Bloc's Gas Deal With Azerbaijan - Reports

Sumaira FH Published April 10, 2023 | 08:42 PM

The European Union's civilian mission to Armenia and the European Parliament's report condemning human rights violations in Azerbaijan could jeopardize the bloc's deal with Baku on increased gas deliveries, the Politico newspaper reported on Monday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th April, 2023) The European Union's civilian mission to Armenia and the European Parliament's report condemning human rights violations in Azerbaijan could jeopardize the bloc's deal with Baku on increased gas deliveries, the Politico newspaper reported on Monday.

Last July, Brussels negotiated a deal with Azerbaijan for the latter to double its annual gas deliveries to the EU to 20 billion cubic meters by 2027. This February, the EU sent a special mission to Armenia to assist the normalization of the situation at the border with Azerbaijan. In March, the European Parliament said that Azerbaijan's record in terms of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is "very negative" and needs improvement.

"We were hoping for a different scenario with Baku. We are sharing all relevant information on patrols and so on with Azerbaijan because we don't want any issues," a senior official in the EU's diplomatic service told the newspaper.

In September 2022, a new outbreak of hostilities between Yerevan and Baku broke out. Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other of shelling and reported losses in their ranks. In December 2022, the Lachin corridor, the only road that links Armenia to the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, was blocked by a group of Azerbaijanis described by Baku as environmental activists.

Yerevan and Baku started peace agreement negotiations last year. At the beginning of February 2023, Yerevan received new peace treaty proposals from Azerbaijan and started to examine them. The UN's main judicial body ruled in February that Azerbaijan must ensure unimpeded movement along the Lachin Corridor. Armenia, in turn, demanded that Azerbaijan "cease its orchestration and support" of the blockade.