Belgian legislators call for sanctions against Aliyev regime, release of Armenian captives

A resolution calling for sanctions against Azerbaijan’s Aliyev regime and urgent actions to free the unlawfully held Armenian prisoners will be debated by Belgian legislators next week.

The hearing will be held on April 2 at the initiative of the foreign relations committee of the Chamber of Representatives, the lower house of Belgium's federal parliament. 

The resolution is authored by Members of the Chamber of Representatives Els Van Hoof (CD&V) and Michel De Maegd (MR) who serve as Chair and Deputy Chair of the foreign relations commitee respectively. 

Els Van Hoof said Armenia and Belgium share the same values of democracy, rule of law and respect for international law and called for Brussels’ support for Yerevan.

The resolution was introduced months ago. 

Els Van Hoof told Armenpress that she was ‘deeply shocked’ by the 9-months long Azeri blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh prior to the ethnic cleansing of the region. 

“It is important that Belgium supports Armenia, a country that shares our values of democracy, the rule of law, and respect for international law. I was deeply shocked by the blockade of the Lachin Corridor, Azerbaijan’s subsequent aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, and Azerbaijan’s continuous aggressive rhetoric against Armenia. Belgium and Europe must pressure Azerbaijan to fully respect Armenia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and to work genuinely towards sustainable peace. If Azerbaijan continues to violate international law, sanctions must be adopted at the European level, and the EU’s relations with Azerbaijan must be reviewed. This is what my resolution is calling for,” Els Van Hoof said.

Michel De Maegd said that the international community must act to achieve the release of the Armenian prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan.

He said that pressure against Azerbaijan must be maximally increased. “I once again discussed this issue with the foreign minister and prime minister last week. This is an urgent issue,” Michel De Maegd said, adding that the resolution calls on the Belgian government to act and use its levers. “It calls for sanctions against Aliyev regime.”

The resolution calls for the protection of the Armenian cultural heritage, the release of Armenian POWs, the safe return of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, among other issues.

Azerbaijan has officially acknowledged that it is holding 23 Armenian prisoners despite a post-war obligation to release all POWs and detainees. 

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan had earlier described the Azeri trial as “mock trials.”

The detainees include former top officials of Nagorno-Karabakh such as the former presidents Bako Sahakyan, Arkady Ghukasyan and Arayik Harutyunyan, as well as former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan. They were arrested after the 2023 Azeri offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh which resulted in the forced displacement of the region’s entire Armenian population of over 100,000. 

The former officials are all facing fabricated charges in what many experts and officials have described as sham trials.