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In his press remarks after the Brussels talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday, European Council President Charles Michel said the two leaders “confirmed their unequivocal commitment to the 1991 Almaty Declaration and the respective territorial integrity of Armenia (29,800 km2) and Azerbaijan (86,600 km2).”

Panorama.am asked Metakse Hakobyan, an MP representing Artsakh’s opposition Justice Party, for comment on the statement.

Panorama.am: Mrs. Hakobyan, how did Artsakh react to Charles Michel's statement on the outcomes of the talks?

Metakse Hakobyan: We witnessed the confirmation of Nikol Pashinyan’s claims in the Armenian National Assembly on 13 April 2021 regarding the lowering of the bar on Artsakh's status by the international community. In fact, when he spoke about the international community, he meant the collective West, which was also confirmed at the meeting. Frankly speaking, we were totally unfazed by this statement, because not only after the war, but also back in 2018 we were waring that the current leaders came to power in Armenia to realize all the goals and dreams of the West, Turkey and Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, all actors have their own interests, and the current authorities catered to the interests of them all. As for the outcomes of the Brussels meeting, I can state that they actually mean nothing for us, because no one, including politicians, authorities or the international community, can act against the will of 120,000 Armenians and make a decision instead of us. This is in response to their statement.

As for the legal aspect of the statement, everything is distorted in it, starting from the Almaty Declaration, which was taken as a basis for making the statement and drafting the document [peace treaty] as well in the future. The Almaty Declaration was signed on December 21, 1991 and the CIS countries mutually recognized each other's territorial integrity under it, just as the Republic of Armenia recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and vice versa. For 30 years, according to the Almaty Declaration, the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan included 75,000 square km and it was strangely turned into 86,600 square km in violation of this declaration. In any case, there were no figures, but the actual borders of the time were specified. Why, in fact, the territory was 75,000 square kilometers? Because Azerbaijan left the Soviet Union after signing the Almaty Declaration on December 28, 1991, and Artsakh could not have had any links with the Republic of Azerbaijan, which had not even declared itself the legal successor of the Azerbaijani SSR.

Hence, both politically and legally it is a false agenda which they rely on. It’s also not accidental that the prime minister of Armenia spoke for a long time about 29,800 square kilometers of Armenia, as if constantly urging Azerbaijan to announce figures concerning its territories as well, which was done during the meeting in Brussels. In fact, the Armenian leaders, who talked about 86,600 square kilometers even during the verbal arrangements in accordance with their workstyle, included the Republic of Artsakh in these 86,600 square kilometers.

For the sober political forces in Artsakh, which are quite numerous, and the Artsakh Armenians it is absolutely unacceptable – whether it's a verbal agreement or a written one, we won't let it be implemented. I think that Artsakh people have demonstrated their will in this regard.

Panorama.am: How would you comment on the statement of the Artsakh Foreign Ministry regarding the trilateral meeting in Brussels, which harshly criticized Europe, but made not a single mention of Nikol Pashinyan?

Metakse Hakobyan: We expressed our own attitude towards the Artsakh authorities long ago. No matter which agency makes a statement or takes a step, the Artsakh authorities’ so-called submissiveness to the Armenian leadership is evident. The statement was also a manifestation of silence, or worse, a statement to the detriment of Artsakh, because we have to realize that both the West and Russia are just mediators, the beneficiary is Artsakh and the interested party is Armenia. So, the Artsakh leadership should have behaved accordingly.

Artsakh’s authorities, as a beneficiary party, should have been part of those policies and have had the guts to oppose them, but they don’t and cannot do it, because, in fact, as Arayik Harutyunyan once said, they agree with the Armenian authorities in everything, down to every comma, which they do not even hide.

That's why the statement of the Foreign Ministry had to be like that, there’s nothing surprising about it. Moreover, yesterday both the Artsakh authorities and some other political forces were apparently solving “much more important problems". Instead of starting prompt and serious discussions and searching for countermeasures, were busy dividing the post of state minister. It was much more important to them than Artsakh's survival.