Germany dashes Armenia's hopes for help against Azerbaijan Baku's just cause remains firm

On February 27, a press conference concluded the visit of a delegation from Germany headed by Elisabeth Winkelmeyer-Becker, Chairperson of the Legal Committee of the German Parliament. Nobody doubts that in Armenia the visit of the members of the German Bundestag was expected to trigger a firestorm against Azerbaijan, promises "not to allow to be trampled upon and to punish immediately those who tried to do so", promises that military aid and the German Armed Forces were about to arrive in Armenia, they were already being loaded on military transport planes, as well as words about imposing sanctions against Azerbaijan. But something went wrong, and Armenia was once again left in bitter disappointment.

Part of this disappointment was the realisation that the values of Armenia had been greatly exaggerated in the eyes of Europe. It also involved realising that Armenia failed on all fronts.

However, we must pay tribute to the politeness of the Chair of the German Bundestag's Legal Affairs Committee who said: "I would like to level down the hope a little bit, because the application of such sanctions at this stage could hinder the effective progress of the peace process", after which she added, in my opinion quite mockingly, that she would like to scale back expectations on this issue a little bit. Armenian, of course. In general, Elisabeth Winkelmeyer-Becker, so as not to upset the hosts, politely pointed out that "at this stage of the peace process, we should be able to act as an honest partner, a supporter of the process, and be able to contribute to the progress of the peace process".

But that's not all, because a little later her statement was an absolute knockout: "Karabakh is on the territory of Azerbaijan from the point of view of international law". This is exactly what Elisabeth Winkelmeyer-Becker, head of the delegation of the Legal Commission of the Bundestag, said at a press conference, referring to the rights of some people of some unknown "Artsakh".

In general, we have the following: the possibility of imposing sanctions against Azerbaijan is excluded, which does not surprise me at all. When wise people have to choose "gas or Armenians", wise people never choose Armenians. And when it comes, for example, to the project of laying an energy cable across the Black Sea from Azerbaijan to Europe, this is all the more the case. The need for gas is very great, the need for electricity is very great, and the need for a transport corridor between the EU countries and the countries of Central Asia is no less great. And it is enough to look at the political map of the region to see that all these projects can be carried out without Armenia (and indeed they are).

Moreover, Armenia can hardly count on Germany's support in its appeal to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the issue of the "forced deportation of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh", as the head of the delegation of German parliamentarians made clear. Germany is well aware of the difference between the so-called "Sudeten precedent" and voluntary departure, and there is nothing to blame Azerbaijan for. Were you offered citizenship? You were. Refused citizenship? You did. And it is impossible to live in Azerbaijan without citizenship and a passport. So goodbye, and I wouldn't say we miss the departed very much.

But let's get back to the visit to Armenia. The German delegation did not feel the need to sweeten the pill in any way. As far as I know, they did not promise any titles of "Honourable Citizens of the City of Berlin", nor did they increase humanitarian aid to the "victims of the evil Azerbaijanis". But the delegation, together with its leader, was familiarised with the activities of the European Union Mission in Armenia, the EUMA, the "specialists" that are on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

But the mission can do whatever it wants. There are more important matters. For example, the next meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Berlin. We are not making any predictions about this meeting, because Azerbaijan's position is clear: peace must be achieved on our terms, on the terms of the winner.