Baku, February 10, 2025 – The Europe Today: Azerbaijan has strongly condemned recent remarks made by Nikolai Valuev, the First Deputy Chairman of the Tourism Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs has deemed his statements against Azerbaijan and its people as “absolutely unacceptable.”
In response to a local media inquiry, Aykhan Hajizada, Spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that Valuev’s name has been added to the list of individuals banned from entering the Republic of Azerbaijan due to his offensive and threatening remarks.
“This is not the first case of members of the Russian State Duma being included in the list of ‘personae non gratae’,” Hajizada noted. He recalled that Konstantin Zatulin, First Deputy Chairman of the CIS Affairs Committee of the State Duma, and Vitaly Milonov, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Family Protection, had previously been placed on the same list for actions deemed contrary to Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“We must regretfully note that all of these deputies who have acted against our country are members of Russia’s ruling party, ‘United Russia’ (Yedinaya Rossiya),” Hajizada stated, underscoring the pattern of behavior observed among certain Russian lawmakers.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reiterated that it would continue to take appropriate measures against individuals who undermine the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national interests in accordance with Azerbaijan’s legal framework.
