So-called ‘elections’ were held in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh yesterday. As expected, they were not recognized by any country in the world. However, many of countries, particularly from the European Union, follow double standards in relation to Nagorno-Karabakh, which creates additional obstacles to a settlement of the conflict in this region, the chairman of the European Institute for Caucasian and Caspian Studies Berlin, Matthias Dornfeldt, believes, Vestnik Kavkaza reported.
"The polling stations are closed, the results will be made public soon. Last Sunday, Nagorno-Karabakh, being under Armenian military occupation for more than 21 years, held illegal municipal `elections`. "By and large, it doesn`t matter how they voted, because these elections do not reflect the will of the people of the region. The tragedy in Khojali, when Armenian military with the participation of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan killed hundreds of Azerbaijanis, including women and children who tried to escape, it was the bloodiest peak of the disaster," the expert reminded.
"Even if paid Armenian Diaspora observers monitored the elections, trying to confer legitimacy to the process, there will be no international recognition of the elections. The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights refuses to observe the elections in the unrecognized separatist regions of the former Soviet Union. In addition, the German government noted recently that it does not recognize any regime in Khankendi or the results of their elections," he said.
"Up until now, the European Union carried out a dual policy in the dialogue with Armenia on the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, emphasizing the right of peoples to self-determination. Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity was supported by Brussels only reluctantly. Now the question is how long the European bureaucrats are going to carry out such a policy during the unauthorized Ukrainian crisis. If the practice of double standards in relation to the separatists in the Azerbaijani and Ukrainian territory isn`t finally stopped, then not only will the ambitious Eastern Partnership program become absurd, but the stability and security in the South Caucasus will also be undermined," Matthias Dornfeldt noted.
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