Azerbaijan’s EU Ambassador accused of threatening and insulting Armenian counterpart in Brussels

Armenia has accused Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the EU of threatening and insulting his Armenian counterpart at a reception organised by the Turkish Embassy in Brussels.

On Tuesday, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan told journalists that Azerbaijan’s EU Ambassador, Vagif Sadigov, threatened Armenia’s Ambassador, Tigran Balayan, during a reception organised by the Turkish Embassy in Brussels. 

Hovhannisyan said that Armenia informed Belgium and the EU of the incident, and that he ‘thinks an investigation is underway’.

Politico reported on Monday that the altercation took place at the Talga Hotel in Brussels in an event marking Turkey’s national day. They added that the Armenian Embassy sent a formal protest to other diplomatic missions in Brussels, with Armenia claiming that their ambassador was ‘verbally attacked and intimidated’ by Sadigov, who ‘voiced explicit threats against his life’.

Speaking to Politico, Vagif Sadigov denied threatening Balayan and stated that the allegations were ‘becoming ridiculous’. He said the Turkish reception was a ‘stand diplomatic event, as usual’.

‘I am not aware of any letter or allegation — Armenian diplomats can claim whatever they want’, he told Politico.

Aykhan Hajizada, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ spokesperson, refused to provide further details to OC Media about the incident, stating that Sadigov had already denied that the altercation took place in an interview with Politico.

‘We don’t have any more comments’, said Hajizada.

According to Politico, Armenia has not been invited to any Ankara-sponsored engagement since the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War of 2020.

Sadigov was previously accused of threatening members of the EU Parliament after a delegation of MEPs travelled close to the border with Azerbaijan in Armenia. 

At the time, Sadigov posted an image and a description of an Azerbaijani-produced sniper rifle with the following caption:

‘They know what they are doing to protect themselves. The Istiglal IST-14.5 anti-materiel sniper rifle produced in Azerbaijan has the effective firing range of about 3,000 m. Guys, keep clear of Azerbaijani state border…’

[Read more: EU condemns ‘totally unacceptable’ threat from Azerbaijani ambassador]

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