Does democracy take a backseat when the talk is about energy?

Baku/19.07.22/Turan: On July 18,  the President of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Baku  and signed a Memorandum of Understanding on a strategic partnership in the energy sector between Azerbaijan and the European Union (EU) with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The President of the European Commission began her speech with this statement: “After the aggression against Ukraine, Russian gas is no longer in demand in Europe.” She noted the important role of Azerbaijan in meeting the needs of Europe in natural gas.

“The Memorandum signed today will make it possible to double the volume of incoming gas from Azerbaijan and increase its volume to 20 billion cubic meters per year and significantly reduce supplies from Russia,” Ursula von der Leyen said.

In her speech, the President of the European Commission practically did not touch upon the issues of human rights and democracy in Azerbaijan. During the visit, she did not meet with civil society representatives. All this caused dissatisfaction among the democratic section of the Azerbaijani society.

Visit of Ursula von der Leyen to Azerbaijan and the meetings she had, the Memorandum of Understanding on the strategic partnership in the energy sector between Azerbaijan and the EU, as well as the reasons for which the "Partnership Agreement" between Azerbaijan and the EU has not yet been signed, are commented in the program " Difficult question”

In the "Difficult question” program, the  Head of the Institute of Political Management Azer Gasiml commented on the  visit of Ursula von der Leyen to Azerbaijan and the meetings she had; the Memorandum of Understanding on the strategic partnership in the energy sector between Azerbaijan and the EU, as well as the reasons for which the "Partnership Agreement" between Azerbaijan and the EU has not yet been signed.

According to him, the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on a strategic partnership in the energy sector between Azerbaijan and the EU, in essence, is nothing new. “Since December 31, 2020, Azerbaijan has been supplying its gas to Europe via the TAP (Trans Adriatic Gas Pipeline). Up to now, up to 14 billion  cubic meters of gas have been transported - Ed.). Now  the talk is about  increasing the volume of supplies to 20 billion meters of gas,” Gasimly said.

The expert does not believe that the signing of the Memorandum will push the issues of human rights and democracy into the background. According to him, in geopolitics, these issues are addressed at the appropriate time.

“Currently,  the talk is about delivering Europe from dependence on gas supplies from Russia, which has turned them into a means of pressure on the EU countries. But the signing of this Memorandum does not mean at all that the issues of human rights and democracy, other fundamental values ​​will be removed from the agenda,” Gasimly is sure.

Referring to the dividends that Azerbaijan will receive from the signing of the Memorandum, Gasimli noted that they could be discussed if our country was democratic and a change of power was carried out in it.

“In this case, the signing of a gas agreement by Ilham Aliyev is just an integral part of his foreign policy. This is not about Azerbaijan, but about its interests, the interests of the ruling family. Naturally, the proceeds from gas transportation will be at the disposal of the authorities and will be used in their interests,” he says. –0—