EU REP SAYS AZERBAIJAN HAS “SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE” FOR EUROPEAN ENERGY POLICY

MPA news agency
24 Apr 06

Baku, 24 April: Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has
received a delegation of the EU troika led by Austrian Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs Hans Winkler, MPA has learnt from the press
centre of the Foreign Ministry.

The EU attaches special importance to developing ties with the South
Caucasus countries and it is interested in further development of
relations with Azerbaijan in energy and other spheres, Winkler said.

Mammadyarov said that EU assistance to the resolution of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagornyy Karabakh on the basis of
the principles of international law is important and that the conflict
has a negative influence on the development of the region.

He said that the documents adopted by the international community on
the conflict must reflect the real situation. Emphasizing that it is
crucial to comply with norms of international law, sovereignty and
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, Mammadyarov said that otherwise
the negotiations will face difficulties.

At a briefing on the results of the meeting with the Azerbaijani
leadership, Winkler said that the EU views Azerbaijan as a potential
partner in supplying energy resources to Europe. The EU would like
to conduct an energy policy of its own and as it searches for ways to
diversify the sources and routes of the supplies of energy resources,
Azerbaijan assumes special significance.

The EU representative said that the recent controversy between Russia
and Ukraine over gas “was an alarm call for Europe” which is interested
in stable supplies of energy resources. “In this connection, it is
obvious that oil-producing and transit countries, like Azerbaijan,
start playing a special role for Europe,” he said.

The individual action plan of partnership between Azerbaijan and the
EU within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy is about
to be completed and its implementation will start soon. As part of
this cooperation, Azerbaijan will receive 20m euros annually from
the EU to support political, economic and social reforms, he said.