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.