Celebration of Europe Day in Baku and the rhetoric of EU–Azerbaijan strategic partnership

Just a few years ago, relations between Azerbaijan and Slovakia remained a peripheral issue in European politics. Bratislava rarely appeared on Azerbaijan’s diplomatic agenda, while the South Caucasus occupied only a limited place in the strategic thinking of the Slovak political elite. However, Europe’s energy crisis, the war in Ukraine, and the transformation of Eurasia’s logistical map are gradually turning this seemingly secondary partnership into part of a new geopolitical reality.

Britain announced on May 11 a new package of sanctions against Russia, describing the measures as among the harshest introduced since the start of the war in Ukraine. London said the sanctions were a response to what it called Moscow’s “hostile activities,” including alleged attempts to interfere in upcoming elections in Armenia, as well as the deportation and ideological indoctrination of Ukrainian children.

In the corridors of Brussels institutions, words that only a year ago seemed almost politically taboo are beginning to reappear: negotiations with Russia, the future architecture of European security, and the possibility — however distant for now — of a gradual return to dialogue with the Kremlin.

On May 5, within the framework of the “Yerevan Dialogue” forum, a meeting of special representatives on the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey took place. Armenia’s Vice Speaker of Parliament Ruben Rubinyan and Ambassador Serdar Kılıç discussed the current state of normalization and the outcomes of the joint working group meeting on the restoration of the Gyumri–Kars railway.