YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on December 2 condemned Poland’s President Andrzej Duda for visiting Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan and monitoring the ceasefire regime there together with European Union observers.
Duda met with Polish members of the EU monitoring mission (EUMA) and joined them on a border patrol, conducted at a border section 75 kilometers south of Yerevan, at the end of his official visit to Armenia on Wednesday. According to a statement by his office, he “familiarized himself with the situation” in the area and praised the EUMA, saying that it has succeeded in “calming down the situation” along the more than 1,000-kilometer-long frontier.
“He indicated that talks are underway on Poland’s greater involvement in this undertaking through an increase in the number of Polish representatives,” added the statement.
During his talks with Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturian and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Duda offered to help Armenia and Azerbaijan end their long-running conflict. The Polish leader visited Baku earlier this month to take part in the COP29 climate summit.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on November 28 summoned the Polish charge d’affaires in Baku and handed him a note of protest against what it called Duda’s “provocation” and “participation in anti-Azerbaijani propaganda.” In a separate statement, the ministry accused him of undermining Azerbaijan’s “strategic partnership” with Poland.
Baku has been very critical of the EU mission ever since its launch in February 2023. In October this year, a top Azerbaijani general accused it of “escalating the situation in the South Caucasus.”
