EU should stop being a neutral actor between Armenia and Azerbaijan - former NATO Secretary-General

In an op-ed for Le Monde, former NATO Secretary-General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, calls on Brussels to move beyond its policy of equidistance between Armenia and Azerbaijan, stop being a neutral actor and play a role in mediating negotiations towards a lasting peace agreement between the two countries.

According to Rasmussen, while all eyes are focused on Russia's illegal war against Ukraine, another major geopolitical shift is happening in Europe, this time in the South Caucasus.

"Despite a historic, economic, energy, and military dependence on Russia – and the physical presence of thousands of Russian troops on its soil – the Armenian government has made a bold and concerted effort to consolidate Armenia's democracy and build closer relations with the democratic West.

“This reorientation takes time, but it also requires the European Union to adopt a more ambitious strategy towards Armenia's democracy. This must start by ending the misguided idea that the European Union (EU) should be a neutral actor between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Europe should play a role in mediating negotiations towards a lasting peace agreement.

“But its approach must reflect the reality that Armenia has chosen the community of European democracies, while Azerbaijan sits in the camp of aggressive autocracies. A lack of European clarity and ambition could endanger Armenia's young democracy and jeopardize its geopolitical pivot,” Rasmussen writes in the op-ed.

Referring to the upcoming trilateral summit in Brussels, Rasmussen says: “This new approach should start at the April 5 trilateral summit in Brussels, where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will host Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“Armenia has already frozen relations with the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, organized military exercises with the United States, and sought to expand its economic ties with democratic economies. However, following the 2023 attack by Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh along with the continued occupation of strategic heights within Armenia by Azeri forces, the security situation in Armenia is fragile.”