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MEMBER OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: THIS RECENT ESCALATION SMACKS OF THE RISING TENSIONS BEFORE THE GEORGIAN-RUSSIAN WAR IN 2008
arminfo
Thursday, June 21, 17:27
This recent escalation between Armenia and Azerbaijan smacks of the
rising tensions before the Georgian-Russian war in 2008, Charles
Tannock, a member of the European Parliament from Britain, said in
an article placed at EurActiv web site.
"Almost unnoticed beyond the specialist foreign policy community,there
have been around a dozen heavy incidents of exchanges of sniperfire
and artillery shelling between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the last
two months.
In this time, more than 10 soldiers have been killed, and those foreign
policy pundits who still maintain the concept of "frozen conflicts"
being dormant affairs that can be safely ignored should know that
half of these incidents did not take place in the disputed territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh itself, but at the recognized international
borders between the two states, which are both part of the European
Neighbourhood Policy and the EU's Eastern Partnership.
This recent escalation smacks of the rising tensions before the
Georgian-Russian war in 2008. After years with numerous smaller
incidents, the international community gets used to a certain
instability, and while peace negotiations fail due to the lack of
political will between the hostile parties, the frequency and gravity
of the incidents slowly escalates and in spite of European "calls
upon both sides" for restraint, real war actions can suddenly unfold.
History appears to be repeating itself, but there are three main
differences.
First, among Armenia and Azerbaijan, only Azerbaijan has an interest
in mobilising troops at the risk of escalating to an outright actual
war. While the situation between Russia and Georgia was more blurred,
only Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his government openly
and repeatedly threaten their neighbour with war, whereas Armenia
does not and would logically have no such interest.
The EU should clearly threaten sanctions against anyone unilaterally
using disproportionate force in this conflict, and we must insist
on the removal of snipers and on having EU observers along the line
of contact and the state borders. Incidentally, Armenia has already
agreed to this.
Before signing the next oil trade treaty with Baku, this should be
the EU condition, or we might soon have very different prices to pay
for oil and more importantly a tragic human catastrophe in Europe's
east with large-scale casualties. In addition, there could be large
flows of refugees heading in our direction with all that this might
mean in economic terms in terms of additional burdens on our already
stretched public resources."
arminfo
Thursday, June 21, 17:27
This recent escalation between Armenia and Azerbaijan smacks of the
rising tensions before the Georgian-Russian war in 2008, Charles
Tannock, a member of the European Parliament from Britain, said in
an article placed at EurActiv web site.
"Almost unnoticed beyond the specialist foreign policy community,there
have been around a dozen heavy incidents of exchanges of sniperfire
and artillery shelling between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the last
two months.
In this time, more than 10 soldiers have been killed, and those foreign
policy pundits who still maintain the concept of "frozen conflicts"
being dormant affairs that can be safely ignored should know that
half of these incidents did not take place in the disputed territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh itself, but at the recognized international
borders between the two states, which are both part of the European
Neighbourhood Policy and the EU's Eastern Partnership.
This recent escalation smacks of the rising tensions before the
Georgian-Russian war in 2008. After years with numerous smaller
incidents, the international community gets used to a certain
instability, and while peace negotiations fail due to the lack of
political will between the hostile parties, the frequency and gravity
of the incidents slowly escalates and in spite of European "calls
upon both sides" for restraint, real war actions can suddenly unfold.
History appears to be repeating itself, but there are three main
differences.
First, among Armenia and Azerbaijan, only Azerbaijan has an interest
in mobilising troops at the risk of escalating to an outright actual
war. While the situation between Russia and Georgia was more blurred,
only Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his government openly
and repeatedly threaten their neighbour with war, whereas Armenia
does not and would logically have no such interest.
The EU should clearly threaten sanctions against anyone unilaterally
using disproportionate force in this conflict, and we must insist
on the removal of snipers and on having EU observers along the line
of contact and the state borders. Incidentally, Armenia has already
agreed to this.
Before signing the next oil trade treaty with Baku, this should be
the EU condition, or we might soon have very different prices to pay
for oil and more importantly a tragic human catastrophe in Europe's
east with large-scale casualties. In addition, there could be large
flows of refugees heading in our direction with all that this might
mean in economic terms in terms of additional burdens on our already
stretched public resources."