The Azerbaijani authorities nearly every day make bellicose statements and provocative actions, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said in an interview with the Austrian Der Standard.

“Only in a year they doubled their military budget and refused the proposals of the international community to come to an agreement on non-use of force, consolidation of ceasefire, withdrawal of snipers from the line of contact. I do not think that anyone could interpret that such behavior of the Azerbaijani authorities does not pose a danger,” he added.

Commenting on whether Armenia takes these statements serious, Nalbandian stressed the threat to use force is a violation of international law, whereas absence of adequate reaction to such a bellicose behavior may lead to serious consequences.

The Armenian FM stressed one should be more cautious in making any comparisons of political-social developments among the regional countries. “While Armenia is a developing democracy, Azerbaijan is a developing authoritarian regime. This is a view expressed by most international organizations and shared by most of the experts. The media and civil society in Armenia are actively involved in political discussions, something unheard of in Azerbaijan. Quite the contrary, full-fledged state sponsored propaganda of hatred towards Armenians hinders the peace process. And the minds of the young generations are being spoilt in such a way that it hinders future reconciliation.  A spirit of compromise and peace discourse are in general less probable in authoritarian countries,” he said.