Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry summoned the European Union's ambassador to Baku, Marijana Kujundžić, on May 1 and handed her a note of protest over a European Parliament resolution adopted the previous day, the ministry said in an official statement carried by News.Az.

The ministry described the resolution as baseless and biased, and said its provisions concerning Azerbaijan were strongly condemned during the meeting.

The resolution distorted realities and contradicted obligations to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, the ministry said. The European Parliament's approach negatively affected the normalisation process in the region and the prospects for relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union.

Claims in the resolution regarding the return of Armenian residents to the Karabakh region were baseless and constituted interference in Azerbaijan's internal affairs, the ministry said.

Despite the reintegration plan presented by Azerbaijan in 2023 in line with the country's constitution, Armenian residents had left the region voluntarily, the ministry said, describing claims to the contrary as false.

Calls for the resolution for the release of persons of Armenian origin referred to as prisoners of war were legally unacceptable, the ministry said. Azerbaijan had demonstrated a humanitarian approach by releasing many detainees, and those against whom court verdicts had been issued were accused of serious crimes, including terrorism, sabotage and war crimes.

Allegations regarding the destruction of cultural and religious heritage were completely baseless and unacceptable, the ministry said. It accused European institutions of failing to give due attention to the destruction of Azerbaijani cultural and religious heritage during the occupation period.

The EU side was urged to refrain from steps that could harm Azerbaijan-EU relations and the peace and normalisation process in the region.

The protest note follows a decision earlier this week by the Azerbaijani parliament to exit the EU-Azerbaijan parliamentary cooperation committee.

Azerbaijan recovered control of the Karabakh region in a 24-hour military operation in September 2023, with the bulk of the area's ethnic Armenian population leaving in the days that followed.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have since pursued a normalisation track, with bilateral negotiations on a peace treaty continuing alongside contested issues including border delimitation, the Zangezur corridor and the status of Armenian detainees.