The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s deeply unprofessional and confrontational behavior continues to damage the country’s reputation on the world stage. In the latest misstep, the ministry bizarrely expressed concerns over the brief detention of Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg by Dutch police during an unauthorized rally.

The ministry cited hosting the COP29 U.N. climate conference in Baku in 2024 as the rationale for commenting on the unrelated Thunberg incident. However, climate change has never been a top priority for oil-dependent Azerbaijan, making the statement largely irrelevant. The move seems particularly ill-advised given Azerbaijan’s heavy criticism from human rights groups over the detention of dissidents.

Just recently, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) suspended the voting rights of Azerbaijan’s delegation due to human rights concerns. Greta Thunberg has protested against the fossil fuel industry that powers Azerbaijan’s economy. For the Foreign Ministry to voice solidarity with her detention makes little sense.

Rather than addressing these contradictions or the corruption allegations against the widely criticized Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, the ministry persists in issuing confrontational statements marred by unprofessionalism. This further tarnishes Azerbaijan’s diplomacy at a time when the country finds itself at odds with Western nations while neighbor Armenia, whom it recently fought wars, increases ties with the U.S. and Europe.

The Foreign Ministry’s continual missteps, inexperienced leadership, unanswered scandals, and stagnation seriously undermine Azerbaijan’s interests. With tensions high in the region and relations with the West, the ministry’s blunders ridiculing the state it represents could have lasting consequences for the country’s standing abroad.