European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, speaking at the 8th European Political Community summit in Yerevan, stated that the Council of Europe will never change its adopted positions, when responding to remarks by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who criticized the European Parliament and the Council of Europe over pro-Armenian resolutions.
Metsola requested an unscheduled address, emphasizing that such criticism should not go unanswered, Sputnik Armenia reports.
“I believe that meetings where there is a certain level of disagreement are always healthy, but I would like to respond quickly by stressing that the European Parliament is a democratic body with directly elected representatives. The Parliament’s resolutions are adopted by a majority, and their outcomes may be uncomfortable for many, but we will never change our procedures or the positions we have adopted,” Metsola said.
Aliyev, who joined the summit online, had stated that the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe were targeting Azerbaijan, claiming that Baku had “ended separatism in Karabakh in 2023.”
On April 30, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning Azerbaijan’s illegal detention of Armenian prisoners of war and hostages, demanding their immediate release. It also called for ensuring the safe, unimpeded, and dignified return of Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh under international guarantees, accountability for the destruction of Armenian cultural and religious heritage, and an international assessment mission.
