The Assembly urges Congress to maintain parity in security assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan, and requests $4.3 million in Foreign Military Financing, and $1 million in International Military Education Training assistance to Armenia.
The conditional waiver of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act makes it clear that any assistance provided shall not “undermine or hamper” the Nagorno Karabakh peace process or “be used for offensive purposes against Armenia” or any “Armenian community in the Caucasus region.”
Specifically, the conditional waiver stipulates that President must consult with Congress prior to the provision of any assistance, and report to Congress “in detail” on “the nature and quantity” of such assistance, its impact on the “military balance between Azerbaijan and Armenia” and negotiations over Karabakh.
Finally, there is an understanding between the Administration and Congress to ensure military parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Providing asymmetrical military assistance to Azerbaijan violates the will of Congress, subverts the short- and long-term U.S. policy goals for the South Caucasus region, and will only serve to legitimize Azerbaijan’s ongoing blockades against Armenia and Karabakh, thereby making its position at the negotiating table even more intransigent.
In fact, Azerbaijan continues its unabated war rhetoric against Armenia, despite U.S. demands to cease such provocative actions. Rather than heed U.S. and European Union calls for cooperation with Armenia, Azerbaijan has rejected Armenia’s numerous proposals for economic and regional confidence-building, and has instead dramatically increased its military spending to levels that nearly equal Armenia’s entire national budget.
Given Azerbaijan’s escalating military expenditures, we encourage Congress to carefully monitor military assistance given to Azerbaijan, through other assistance programs, such as the Caspian Guard initiative, to ensure that the principle of military and security parity is maintained throughout all funding areas.
