Pashinyan hopes to visit Azerbaijan; Aliyev congratulated him on hosting the European Summit in Yerevan

 

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expressed hope to visit Azerbaijan in 2028 to participate in the 10th European Political Community (EPC) Summit. He made this statement during his speech at the 8th EPC Summit taking place in Yerevan today. He also thanked Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for participating in the online event.

In the context of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, Pashinyan noted the unblocking of regional communications and the implementation of the TRIPP transport project.

In turn, Ilham Aliyev congratulated Pashinyan via video link on hosting the EPC Summit in Armenia.

"Armenia and Azerbaijan have been living in peace for over nine months now. Despite the efforts of all those trying to undermine this process, Azerbaijan is committed to a peaceful agenda, and my Armenian counterpart's speech clearly underscored this," Ilham Aliyev stated.

He also added that Baku had lifted transit restrictions on Yerevan. Following this, 28,000 tons of cargo were delivered to Armenia via Azerbaijan. Moreover, Azerbaijan began exporting petroleum products to Armenia for the first time—12,000 tons to date.

The Azerbaijani President also used today's podium to criticize the European Parliament, accusing it of biased treatment of Baku and interference in the peace process.

"Now about the European Parliament: instead of supporting the peace process, this assembly prefers to sabotage it. From May 2021 to April 30, 2026, the European Parliament adopted 14 resolutions full of insults and lies against Azerbaijan. Imagine, 14 resolutions in five years—it's a kind of obsession. The last one was adopted just four days ago, immediately before the summit. "Instead of addressing the fundamental problems of some member states, such as xenophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, migration, competitiveness, and homelessness, the European Parliament has targeted Azerbaijan, spreading slander and lies," Aliyev said indignantly.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who was present at the summit, responded to this. She emphasized that the European Parliament is a democratic institution, and its decisions are made by a majority vote of elected representatives. According to her, the body will continue to adhere to its procedures and positions, even if they cause disagreement among certain parties.

Earlier, on April 30, the European Parliament adopted a resolution regarding the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh. The document, in particular, expresses support for the rights of the Armenian population of the region, including the possibility of safe return, and calls for the preservation of cultural and religious heritage.

Following this, the Azerbaijani Parliament announced the suspension of cooperation with the European Parliament.