Baku: Azerbaijan announced on Thursday that it had summoned Poland’s charge d’affaires in the capital, Baku, following Polish President Andrzej Duda’s visit to Armenia’s border region. The visit took place a day earlier, prompting a swift response from Azerbaijan.

According to Anadolu Agency, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing its protest against Duda’s visit to the border region near the village of Kerki. The Azerbaijani government accused the Polish president of participating in ‘anti-Azerbaijani propaganda’ alongside staff from the EU Mission in Armenia (EUMA).

The statement highlighted that Duda proceeded with the visit despite warnings from Baku, and claimed that the mission is frequently utilized as an ‘anti-Azerbaijani propaganda tool.’ The Azerbaijani authorities emphasized that such actions contradict the relations between Azerbaijan and Poland and stressed the importance of avoiding steps that could impact Azerbaijan’s legitimate security interests.

President Duda had
embarked on a two-day visit to Armenia, with the last day including participation in a patrol of the EUMA in the northern part of Yerevan’s border with Azerbaijan’s autonomous Nakhchivan exclave. Baku had voiced its protest against Duda’s visit on the same day, releasing a statement on X that described it as ‘another demonstration of anti-Azerbaijani policy by different EU member countries and European institutions.’

The statement also expressed deep regret, noting that the President of a country deemed a ‘strategic partner’ of Azerbaijan had engaged in what it termed an ‘unacceptable diplomatic “binocular show,”‘ which it believes could worsen relations between Azerbaijan and Poland.