The Belgium and Dutch parliaments adopted resolutions which also included imprisoned Armenian prisoners in Baku on 16 April, resulting in condemnations from the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and the summoning of both countries’ ambassadors on Monday.
The resolution which was adopted in Brussels by the Belgian Parliament contains 10 requests for the federal government.
The document stipulated that Azerbaijan should respect the principles of sovereignty and integrity and retreat from ‘the occupied border territories of Armenia, covering an area of over 200 square kilometers’.
According to the local Armenian media, since 2021 Azerbaijan has occupied ‘more than 200 square kilometers of Armenia’s internationally recognised territory in the regions of Syunik, Vayots Dzor, and Gegharkunik’.
The resolution also calls other EU members ‘to urge Azerbaijan to finally sign the peace agreement initiated with Armenia as announced on 13 March 2025’.
The resolution addressed the situation of Armenian prisoners in Baku and demanded that the Azerbaijani government ensure their access to transparent and fair trials as a ‘gesture of goodwill’.
A separate resolution adopted by the Dutch Parliament condemned the ‘deplorable conditions’ in which the former leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenian prisoners of war were being kept in Azerbaijan. It has also called for their release.
These resolutions were assessed by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry ‘as a reckless attempt to undermine Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty’.
It decried what it called ‘utterly biased and unfounded assessments’ of Azerbaijan, including ‘baseless accusations alleging violations of Armenia’s territorial integrity, the rights of ethnic Armenians, and claims regarding the so-called unlawful detention of persons of Armenian origin were strongly and resolutely rejected’’.
The ambassadors were urged not to damage the bilateral relations and to curb anti-Azerbaijani sentiments in their respective parliaments.
The Azerbaijani Parliament similarly condemned the resolutions on Monday, calling them ‘one-sided and biased’.
‘These documents, which distort the history and results of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia and stem from the unhealthy and racist imagination of traditional anti-Azerbaijani and Islamophobic circles, constitute a gross violation of international law and the rule of law, as well as a provocation against the ongoing and important peace process in the region’, the parliament said.
Noting that the Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentary speakers had recently met in Istanbul, the Azerbaijani Parliament said the Dutch and Belgian resolutions ‘clearly demonstrate that the “initiators” of these documents are far removed from the real state of affairs in the region’.
‘Their true intention is not to promote peace and dialogue, but to incite hostility and revenge’.
Furthermore, the Azerbaijani Parliament said the Armenian prisoners in question had committed ‘war crimes and crimes against humanity’ and that their crimes had been proven in a ‘transparent and open trial’.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
The Azerbaijani Parliament demanded that the Belgian and Dutch parliaments ‘end the hate campaign against Azerbaijan and steps that undermine efforts to strengthen peace in the region’.
The Azerbaijani pro-government media Caliber cited political analyst Ilgar Velizade as saying these resolutions would not bear fruit.
‘In the end, all of them remained without practical implementation, but they continue to stir certain circles and stimulate new anti-Azerbaijani campaigns’, Velizade said.
Nate Ostiller
