EU leaders to discuss Karabakh escalation

PanARMENIAN.Net - The recent escalation along the Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact will be up for discussion at a two-day European Union summit that starts Thursday, October 1, France 24 says.

European leaders meet on Thursday to tackle rifts that threaten their huge coronavirus recovery package and weaken their ability to respond to crises on their borders with Turkey and Belarus.

The first night of the extraordinary two-day European Union summit will be dominated by the bloc's tricky ties with Ankara, which is embroiled in a dangerous maritime stand-off with Greece and Cyprus.

But the leaders will reluctantly be forced to address an internal argument about tying access to EU funds to a member state's support for the rule of law -- an idea fiercely opposed by Hungary.

At a turbulent four-day marathon summit in July the leaders agreed to borrow to build a 750-billion-euro corona stimulus fund, to be backed by a trillion-euro long-term EU budget.

The recent flare-up of fighting in Karabakh region will also colour the discussion of Turkey.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday accused Ankara of "reckless and dangerous" statements backing Azerbaijan, drawing a sharp riposte from his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Azerbaijan launched a major offensive against Karabakh (Artsakh) in the morning of September 27, shelling Armenian positions and civilian settlements with large caliber weapons and rocket systems. Armenia and Karabakh have introduced martial law and total mobilization. The Armenian side has reported deaths and injuries both among the civilian population and the military. On September 29, the Azerbaijani army began shelling positions and civilian settlements in Armenia, which resulted in civilian casualty.

Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has launched a fundraising campaign to support Nagorno-Karabakh amid Azerbaijan's aggression.