An overwhelming majority of European Parliament members on Friday voted in favor of a resolution condemning political repression in Azerbaijan and calling for the immediate release of Armenian political prisoners and prisoners of war, including former high-ranking officials of Artsakh.

The resolution reiterates “its deep concern over the continued detention of Armenian political prisoners and prisoners of war in Azerbaijan, including former high-ranking representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh; calls for their immediate and unconditional release and respect for their fundamental rights.”

The authors of the resolution pointed to the visits to Azerbaijan by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in July and EU Special Representative Magdalena Goron in September, and emphasize that they “regret that EU representatives did not publicly raise the issue of political prisoners or demand their release during recent high-level visits to Azerbaijan.”

The resolution also deplored “the failure of EU representatives, during recent high-level visits to Azerbaijan, to publicly raise the cases of political prisoners and demand their release; warns that such silence risks undermining the credibility of the EU’s human rights policy; insists that any further deepening of EU-Azerbaijan relations be conditional on the immediate release of persons detained on politically motivated grounds and an end to the crackdown on independent media, civil society and political opposition.”

The resolution was adopted by 492 votes in favor and 23 against. The provisions concerning Armenian prisoners were included in the final text thanks to the efforts of French Member of the European Parliament Marina Mesure, who was among the resolution’s co-authors.

Following the vote, Mesure strongly criticized the EU for failing to translate its repeated condemnations into concrete action. She warned that the EU’s credibility was at stake and called on EU leaders to make all relations with Baku strictly conditional on respect for human rights.

Azerbaijan’s parliament—the Milli Majlis—reacted swiftly, characterizing the European Parliament’s resolution as a “biased political move,” asserting that it is “far from being objective.”

“The European Parliament’s targeted political stance against Azerbaijan has become even more confrontational following the Second Karabakh War,” the Azerbaijani parliament stated, according to the APA news agency.

While maintaining that Baku “remains consistently committed to protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, ensuring the rule of law, and upholding the principles of a state governed by the rule of law,” the Azerbaijani parliament also described as concerning the fact that the European Parliament adopted the resolution at a time when the peace agenda between Armenia and Azerbaijan is being advanced.

“Such initiatives hinder the creation of an atmosphere of mutual trust and create additional obstacles to the normalization of interstate relations,” the Azerbaijani parliament said.

“At a time when Azerbaijan and Armenia are making efforts to resolve the long-standing conflict, the desire of destructive elements representing certain political forces within the European Parliament to once again generate political and military tension is a cause for concern,” the statement reads.