July 13, 2026
Kaia Kalas, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy stated that during the meeting to be held in Brussels, EU foreign ministers will approve the creation of a new EU mission for Armenia, which will fight against hybrid threats.
“We will also agree on a new partnership mission for Armenia: to combat the hybrid threats, foreign information manipulation and interference that they actually face.” he emphasized.
What Callas means, or which country he says is its source, is more than clear. It is not a secret where Nikol Pashinyan’s government sees hybrid threats from.
Baku has also always talked about hybrid threats, and at some point it saw them from the Kremlin, now the arrow of accusation in the direction of various Western or European countries: Brussels, France, Poland, etc. Moreover, Azerbaijan considers any initiative of the former military-political leadership of Artsakh held in Baku as a hybrid threat.
But in this particular case, the problem lies in the methods of combating hybrid threats of Armenia and Azerbaijan, although there are differences in terms of content and targets.
For example, Armenia expects financial resources from the EU to fight against hybrid threats, which, as the author, Pashinyan can see the opponents, and the question is whether it is against the national interests of the state or Nikol Pashinyan’s political interests. And it is interesting that the RA authorities ignore the hybrid threats coming from Azerbaijan against Armenia, and sometimes even against Nikol Pashinyan.
What is Aliyev doing? he regularly organizes “tours” of representatives of different countries to occupied Artsakh: diplomats, military attachés, journalists, etc., or he organizes international forums on various topics, where he injects Azerbaijani theses. We still put aside the Azerbaijan-Turkey joint information platform and similar agreements between the Turkish states.
And the last fresh fact. An international media forum was organized in occupied Shushi, in which about 300 participants from 60 countries took part, and after his speech, Aliyev answered the questions of the audience and promoted several important theses for Azerbaijan.
■ First, first the Baku propaganda machine leaves Pashinyan with the responsibility for possible regional upheavals and clashes between the main players, noting that Nikol Pashinyan’s rule is turning Armenia into an arena of violent confrontation between Russia and the West, and then announcing during the international media forum convened in Shushi that the South Caucasus should not become a field of geopolitical confrontation, and that he managed to prevent his country from being drawn into geopolitical in intrigues. They put everything in the right order, didn’t they?
Then Aliyev added, that after the 44-day war of 2020, the South Caucasus has “changed dramatically”, and subsequent events, including the restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and “Armenia’s European integration aspirations and the circumstances accompanying that process”, dictate the need for a rethinking of the South Caucasus, both by analysts and by statesmen.
It is no secret that Azerbaijan and Turkey are of the opinion that the format of “3 3” cooperation (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and Iran, Russia, Turkey) should deal with the problems of the entire region. And, perhaps, it is in this logic that Aliyev emphasized during the Mediforum that the relations between Baku and Moscow are completely regulated. In other words, Baku has clearly conveyed its message to the West, Armenia, and Russia.
■ Second, Aliyev called on his neighbors for peace to prevent their conflicts from turning into a global conflict. In other words, Baku has accepted that the Iran-US-Israel conflict presents it with a choice, but it is able to face it, keeping the region from unnecessary upheavals. And everything is not over yet.
“Unfortunately, the threats in our region today are quite real. We don’t read about it in books, we see it in real life.
In short, we are We must expand our capabilities, strengthen our defenses, protect our national interests, and strengthen practical cooperation with as many countries as possible.” Aliyev stated, admitting that they have no right to be “idle” in terms of strengthening the army’s capabilities, that is, he explained the reason for their arming and its justification.
In particular, the president of Azerbaijan singled out cooperation with China in the defense sector. Aliyev said that Azerbaijan has already purchased a number of military products from China. Some of them were shown during the military parade dedicated to the fifth anniversary of our Victory. The rest are currently being delivered, and some projects are still under discussion.
Note that in November 2025 at the military parade in Baku to be displayed are Chinese long-range HQ-9BE anti-aircraft missile complexes.
And Aliyev also clearly warned that: “Azerbaijan and Turkey are not only brotherly and friendly countries, but also allies.”
“In the event of a threat to one of the parties, the other will use all its potential, including military, to protect the fraternal state.” he emphasized, referring to Shushi’s declaration.
In other words, as the dictator of Baku told the settlers during his visit to the occupied Martuni region a few days ago, “I believe that there will be no need to use the Iron Fist anymore, but everyone should know that it remains in place.” In essence, he says, they want peace, but they do not exclude the possibility of any war, that is, their preparation has not been pushed out of Baku’s political agenda.
■ Third, naturally, in the context of the settlement process of the Karabakh conflict, Aliyev placed the demands of Azerbaijan in the logic of international law, giving “legal force” to the start of the 44-day war.
It should be noted that Aliyev also attended the 8th European Political Community Summit in Yerevan had announced the same thing that the 4 resolutions of the UN Security Council remained on paper for 30 years, so there was nothing left but to achieve their implementation by force. In other words, Aliyev is telling the international community that they should come to terms with new realities and their status as a middle power.
And what is Nikol Pashinyan doing? For example, he instructs the army that it should take into account the new realities, that it should be called not combat-capable, but defense-capable. But do the new realities suggest that you should not have a combat-ready army and be afraid to use that word in general? Do the new realities dictate that you first declare that you have 200 square kilometers of occupied territory, and then question the Armenian identity of some of them? Don’t the new realities require a mirror process, no matter how much the other side is the winner?
Do the new realities require changing one’s own constitution, when the other side of the peace agenda maintains territorial claims to the recognized Republic of Armenia in its constitution, or to carry out the demarcation and demarcation process under unequal conditions? Or, he numbs the resistance of young people, changes values, when the leader of Azerbaijan urges the young people of his country the following.
“For the Azerbaijani people to live as an eternally proud, victorious nation, national identity and national dignity should be above everything else.
But you must never bend, you must never break.
You should never agree with the “occupier”.
You should not obey the dictates of the “occupier”.
If necessary, even if you die, you should live with dignity, instill this in your children, grandchildren and generations.
Our future development will depend on the young generation.
In 20, 30, 50 years, they should be like us: devoted to the motherland, resilient, strong, so that Azerbaijan will always be at the top.”
Now you say, does all this have to do with hybrid warfare or threats?, of course it does. Aliyev faces the hybrid and information war by generating his own theses among the international community, and he does it, as we mentioned, in a cunning way, while preparing his own youth for any scenario.
Why does Armenia not adopt such a tactic, why does the Armenian government, which speaks of sovereignty, constantly deploy some missions in its territory, where, naturally, there is a risk of conflicting interests of superpowers?
It should be noted that the main goal of the international media forum organized in the occupied Shushi, in the mass media and the information field, is “retelling the historical truth and forming appropriate narratives based on verified facts”.
It is not difficult to guess what historical truth we are talking about, and there was a time when the international press wrote about the Armenian Genocide.
In terms of the Karabakh conflict, we have always had gaps in terms of conveying the Armenian position and making it understandable.
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