NATO GREETERS WANT BAKU NOW
by Andrei Korbut

WPS Agency
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
June 24, 2009 Wednesday
Russia

IS AZERBAIJAN ON ITS WAY INTO NATO?; The Alliance wants Azerbaijan
in its ranks – the sooner the better.

The so called NATO Week ended in Baku, Azerbaijan, the other day. It
followed an energetic campaign of indoctrination launched to convince
the Azerbaijanis of the necessity to join NATO as soon as possible.

Bogdan Aurescu, State Secretary for Strategic Affairs of the Romanian
Foreign Ministry, announced in baku on June 10 that "… Azerbaijan is
a vital partner of the Alliance. Should it opt to become a member, we
will be only happy." Aurescu admitted that Baku had never applied for
membership yet but promised to consider the application without delay,
if and when it was submitted. Statements like that from a Romanian
were predictable. As matters stand, it is Romania these days which
is the new coordinator of the NATO-Azerbaijani cooperation (Turkey
was the former coordinator). That Aurescu was expressing Brussels’
official position goes without saying.

Referring to sources in the NATO Allied Command, web site Eurasia.net
reported that "… the chances of Azerbaijan to join NATO in the near
future are much preferable to those of Georgia and Ukraine." Here
is another quote from the piece posted on the web site, "Both NATO
headquarters in Brussels and Baku used to think once that Georgia
would be the first to become a NATO country, to be followed by
Azerbaijan. The situation is different now. Azerbaijan stands a better
chance to become the likeliest candidate for NATO membership next
year. In fact, Azerbaijan may become a NATO country before Ukraine
and Georgia do."

The reasoning behind this conclusion is logical at first sight: the
Russian-Georgian war last year convinced most NATO countries that
Georgia’s membership in the Alliance was impossible now. Discord
in Ukraine over the necessity to join NATO and the chronic lack
of political stability in this country affected its chances to be
granted full membership. Azerbaijan definitely looks stable against
their background.

Sources in Brussels meanwhile report that the acceptance of Azerbaijan
is NATO is actively promoted by Turkey, Romania, Poland, Great Britain,
and the Baltic states. Vladimir Popov, an authority on the Caucasus,
claims nevertheless that there are certain obstacles preventing
entry into NATO for Azerbaijan, and Brussels cannot help knowing
about them. "First, Azerbaijan is a participant in the conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh which is already a barrier," Popov said. "Second,
President Ilham Aliyev does not want to join NATO, and neither is
Russia happy with NATO’s continued eastward expansion. Third, France
and Germany will certainly raise objections to the swift acceptance
of Azerbaijan in NATO’s ranks. In a word, there are lots of problems
here, and NATO leaders know them all."

Azerbaijani political scientist Vafa Guluzade in his turn suggested
that his country had every opportunity to join NATO without delay
because the Alliance inevitably had its own interests in the southern
part of the Caucasus. Besides, Guluzade said that he knew of no
serious political forces in Azerbaijan capable of interfering with
this process.

NATO headquarters advances contacts with Baku in the hope to convince
it of the advantages of being in the Alliance. The Azerbaijani
leadership does not object to cooperation but refuses to commit itself
for the time being. But neither does it turn down offers of aid,
military aid included.

According to Eurasia.net, the US Department of State set aside $25
million for Azerbaijan this year. Military aid will constitute one
fifth of the whole package.

Some military projects have been successfully realized in Azerbaijan
since 1992. In fact, the very Azerbaijani regular army was
rearranged to meet NATO standards. Baku is an active participant in
the Partnership for Peace NATO’s Program. Units of the Azerbaijani
regular army participated in the recent military exercise of the
Alliance in Georgia when all Russian allies from the CIS Collective
Security Treaty Organization including Moldova abstained.

Organized with the framework of the already mentioned Partnership
for Peace NATO’s Program, international military exercise Regional
Response’2009 began in Baku on April 18. According to the media,
the Azerbaijani military participates in NATO’s events in accordance
with the IPAP or Individual Partnership Action Plan.

Source: Voyenno-Promyshlenny Kurier, No 23, June 17 – 23, 2009, p. 2

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress