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EU/Azerbaijan: Baku seeks stronger cooperation with EU

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  • EU/Azerbaijan: Baku seeks stronger cooperation with EU

    Europe-East, Belgium
    October 27, 2008


    EU/AZERBAIJAN : BAKU SEEKS STRONGER COOPERATION WITH EU

    No. 0217


    The European Union should broaden its offer towards Azerbaijan in
    order to deepen its cooperation with the country following the
    Georgia-Russia war, which has radically destabilised the whole region,
    a top Azeri official believes. "New opportunities and ideas of
    cooperation should be put on the table," Araz Azimov, Azerbaijan's
    deputy minister for foreign affairs said, insisting in particular on
    the need for Azerbaijan to be "included in the EU's trade and
    transport systems".

    Speaking at a conference organised by the European Policy Centre, on 8
    October in Brussels, Azimov urged the EU to thoroughly implement all
    elements of the memorandum on strategic partnership with Azerbaijan in
    the field of energy, signed in November 2006. "Areas other than energy
    included in the memorandum should be also implemented," Azimov
    argued. "Now, we have to move towards deeper trade relations, more
    intensive people-to-people contacts and we should engage in more
    enhanced cooperation, for example in education and research," he
    added.

    Amid fears that the Georgia-Russia war could derail the project,
    Azimov renewed Azerbaijan's commitment towards the EU-backed Nabucco
    gas pipeline. "We still talk with the EU on diversification and the
    Nabucco project," Azimov said. He indicated, however, that the EU
    itself should be more united and active in promoting the pipeline,
    especially after the Georgian crisis, which called the project into
    question. "The EU is economically powerful but unity is still not
    there when it comes to a decision making mechanism in the area of
    energy security," Azimov said. Referring to this remark, Peter
    Semneby, the EU's special representative to the South Caucasus,
    underlined growing "awareness in the EU about the need to act more
    coherently in the area of energy". The Nabucco pipeline is intended
    to bring gas to Europe from the energy-rich countries of the Caspian
    Sea region, including Azerbaijan, bypassing Russian territory and thus
    reducing the EU's dependence on Russian supplies.

    NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

    According to Azimov, the Georgia-Russia war over South Ossetia and
    Abkhazia has increased the need for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to
    be solved in the nearest future. "The opportunity is there," he said,
    declaring his country's full commitment to the settlement. "We will
    engage in solving the problem," Azimov said, underlining the need for
    certain confidence-building measures, such as a withdrawal of Armenian
    troops from Nagorno-Karabakh and a return of displaced people, to
    accompany the process.

    Commenting on the EU's potential engagement in the settlement efforts
    with Armenia, Azimov called into question the Union's ability to act
    efficiently due to the current divisions between member states on the
    region. He stressed, however, that the EU could play an important role
    during the agreement's implementation stage. Responding to this
    statement, Semneby underlined the Union's firm commitment to the
    settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. "The EU remains fully
    supportive of the work of the Minsk Group(1)," Semneby said,
    expressing confidence that the EU will be able to act
    appropriately. "Our response to the war in Georgia shows that the EU
    is very much able to demonstrate political will," he stressed.

    Both the Azeri and the EU officials welcomed the recent Turkish
    initiative to create a platform for stability and development in the
    Caucasus, which would include all the region's countries (Armenia,
    Azerbaijan, Georgia), Turkey and Russia. "We believe that it is a
    positive sign that Turkey is using an opportunity to play a role in
    the region," Semneby said. Assessing the Turkish initiative as
    positive, Azimov noted that its implementation would be difficult
    given the fact that some of the platform's potential members are still
    in conflict (Russia-Georgia, Armenia-Turkey, Armenia-Azerbaijan). Both
    officials agreed, nevertheless, that the Turkish initiative could, in
    the nearest future, play a positive role in the rapprochement between
    Armenia and Azerbaijan.

    (1) The Minsk Group, made up of the US, the UK, Russia and France, is
    charged with overseeing the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.
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