As the latest developments in the UN are showing, Azerbaijan is shifting its attention towards forming bigger alliances and burying the essence of the Karabakh problem under the global contradictions around energy security, anti-Russian moods and ducking behind the scandalous image of Mikhail Saakashvili, the president of Georgia.

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan in a speech in Berlin in the first session of the X International Bertelsmann Foundation 2006 Forum titled “The Balkans and the Black Sea - A Litmus Test for Europe” stated that Armenia presently is the only state of the world without minorities. “It is the mono-nation. Establishment of two Armenian states is impossible, as it disagrees with all international norms and principles, including the European standards, and is the source of a big threat for the future of Europe.” (BAKU, AZER-PRESS)

President Traian Basescu of Romania in his speech supported Azerbaijan’s stance and said protection of the rights of national minorities, realization of this policy should not lead to violation of the territorial integrity of states. “Voicing ideas that fail to meet European standards will bring no advantage. Creation of a state by each national minority is impossible: there is a practice of autonomy. All the conflicts must be regulated on this principle.” (BAKU, AZER-PRESS - (September 23, 2006)

Such opinions voiced right before the discussion in UN the frozen conflicts of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Pridnestrovye and Karabakh, which has been entered into the UN agenda by the initiative of purely anti-Russian bloc: GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova), might have serious implications for us – Armenians. For although the UN resolutions have no obligatory value, they carry a strong moral aspect to them.

Moreover, the problem is even more complicated by the fact, that with this initiative the purely Karabakh-Azerbaijan conflict is twisted into the overall anti-Russian perspective. Speaking at the United Nations last week, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili accused Russia of “annexation” and “bandit occupation” of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. His sharp tone was related to approval by the top foreign officials of the NATO states of an “intensive dialog” with Tbilisi, which is practically the same as an invitation to membership. (Kommersant, Moscow) This promises nothing good for Russia. And that promises nothing good for Armenia as well.

Seems like, as always, in the fight of the giants (NATO and Russia), the small creatures will suffer the most (i.e. Armenia and Karabakh), and no matter what our foreign minister Vardan Oskanian states about unacceptability of UN overtaking the Karabakh problem resolution, or Vladimir Putin stating that politicians in the South Caucasus are hot-blooded and too emotional, these can hardly form an obstacle for UN, not going very deep into the essence, to pass a very negative resolution on the abovementioned array of frozen conflicts, Karabakh among them.