YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 7, ARMENPRESS. Intensifying cooperation with Azerbaijan in the energy sector doesn’t mean that human rights and rule of law issues will become less important for the European Union, German Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock said in response to a question from ARMENPRESS at a joint press conference with Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan in Berlin.

The German FM noted that because of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine the EU rejected Russian energy resources and is looking for new partners to avoid an energy crisis. She said that matters of human rights and rule of law cannot be pushed into the background because it could lead to very bad consequences.

“Yes, we are searching for partners to avoid an energy crisis, but this doesn’t mean that we will ignore human rights. This principle will apply in case of Azerbaijan as well,” the German FM added.