Aphids are devouring the "blooming garden"

Aphids are devouring the "blooming garden"

As we have already reported, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, speaking at the 7th meeting of the Council of Heads of Muslim Religious Boards of the member states of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), called the European Parliament a "nest of bribe-takers," citing a specific example to support this: millions of dollars were "carried out in suitcases" from the home of the Vice-President of the European Parliament, and the case was eventually "hushed up."

This refers to the case of Eva Kaili, a Greek politician who held the post of Vice-President of the European Parliament and was arrested in December 2022 as part of the investigation into the so-called "Qatargate." The European official spent about four months in custody, after which she was placed under house arrest, but a trial on the merits of the charges has still not taken place.

"Aliyev's statement, which Brussels would prefer not to hear, is not just an attack on a specific institution. It is a warning to all those who still believe in the 'European dream': you are rushing into a structure that is itself in a state of deep moral and institutional decay... This is an accurate diagnosis of what is happening to the European Union."

Aliyev uses this fact not as a legal claim, but as a political argument: a system that calls itself a model of transparency and the rule of law in reality covers up its corrupt officials, the source writes.

The political structure, which once looked like a model of the "civilized world," today exists in a state of constant crisis — deindustrialization, corruption scandals, internal division, and humiliating dependence on Washington.

Baku responds to EU pressure

The sharp criticism by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev of the European Parliament and the political institutions of the European Union is linked to accusations against Baku after it restored control over Karabakh in September 2023, in connection with which the EU increased pressure on Baku. Aliyev linked the regular claims of European officials regarding the state of democracy in Azerbaijan to the religious factor. In his opinion, an "undeclared war" is being waged against the Islamic world, and European structures are demonstrating open Islamophobic sentiments.

According to the head of Azerbaijan, the EU did not impose any sanctions against Armenia during the 30 years of the conflict, but began to pressure Azerbaijan, the European portal Brussels Signal writes about this.

"Aliyev, whom Western structures have been trying to present as an authoritarian leader for years, says out loud what is only whispered in European corridors. In essence, he says what Brussels has long forgotten how to say — the truth. Aliyev's statement is not just an attack on a specific institution. It is a warning to all those who still believe in the 'European dream': you are rushing into a structure that is itself in a state of deep moral and institutional decay. If European politicians can counter Aliyev's accusations with anything, it is only one thing: silence.

What is the bottom line? Aliyev's words about a 'nest of bribe-takers' are not an insult, they are a diagnosis. The EU's problem is not that someone is 'blackening' it. The problem is that it itself has long ceased to be what it declares itself to be: a union of prosperous democracies, an economic locomotive, a geopolitical player.

"Today, it is a structure that closes factories, covers up corrupt officials, cannot agree on a budget, and receives threats from its own 'senior partner' for attempting to talk to Canada. The blooming garden is clearly being devoured by aphids," the publication concludes.