The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell ruled out the possibility of sanctions against Azerbaijan as the country’s two-month blockade of the Lachin corridor continues. Azerbaijan has elicited international condemnation for its ongoing attempts to force ethnic Armenians out of the Nagorno-Karabakh region using a strategic blockade on vital supplies under the guise of an environmental protest.
Borrell made the comments in answer to a question by Flemish MEP Assita Kanko, adding that he does not believe that sanctions are the only method for the EU to influence the situation.
Aid agencies have warned of a humanitarian disaster as 120,000 civilians have been left without supplies because of the blockade, with Turkish ultranationalist groups being spotted assisting Azeri efforts.
In January, the EU launched a 40-person observer mission to Armenia to inform decision-makers about the situation. The Council of Europe has condemned Azerbaijan for occupying Armenian territory, though it has maintained overall neutrality in the conflict due to economic and geopolitical factors.
Previously, MPs with the Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament have called for sanctions against Azerbaijan similar to those against Russia.
A recent EU report on the conflict noted that Armenia has inadvertently suffered from Western sanctions against Russia, made worse by its landlocked position between Turkey and Azerbaijan. The disputed region hosts 2,000 Russian peacekeepers, with relations between Russia and Armenia worsening over Moscow’s failure to intervene on the Armenian side despite both being members of the CSTO military alliance.
The EU has faced criticism from human rights groups for a deal signed in July 2022 to double gas imports from Azerbaijan by 2027. The bloc is increasingly reliant on Azerbaijan due to the embargo on most Russian hydrocarbon imports.
There have been additional proposals in both the French Senate and American Congress to impose sanctions against Azerbaijan.
Bruno Retailleau, the leader of the French Les Républicains in the Senate, has been vocal in his call for sanctions, urging the EU to cut its ties:
Europe should immediately review the gas agreement, which the commission agreed [to] and signed with Aliyev. The same gas that allows the Azerbaijani army and its Turkish accomplices to carry out their criminal actions, including against the civilian population. This is a moral scandal, but also a strategic mistake, because by consciously jumping into Aliyev’s arms to get out of Putin’s clutches, Europe significantly strengthens Turkey’s strategy. One day we will pay for it.
Azerbaijan has been in conflict with Armenia, with military assistance from Turkey, since the 1990s over control of the contested, mainly Armenian, Nagorno-Karabakh region. International observers have criticised Azerbaijan for their aggressive actions against ethnic Armenians in the area.
