Agreement between Azerbaijan and EU to Be Signed - Expert

Baku / 08.04.19 / Turan: The statement by Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov about the readiness of the agreement with the European Union by 90% and its possible signing soon has aroused interest, because until recently Azerbaijan showed indifference and sometimes openly negative attitude towards the EU.

Commenting on the unexpected change in sentiment from Turan, the head of the Society for Humanitarian Studies Avaz Hasanov recalled that the negotiations between Azerbaijan and the European Union had been going on for a long time after Baku had abandoned the "Associative Agreement". As an alternative, Baku proposed a document called "strategic partnership". While there were discussions of this document, Armenia signed a similar document and now only Azerbaijan and Belarus do not have a document on cooperation with the EU, including political aspects.

When Azerbaijan joined the Eastern Partnership program, Baku signed a separate document on energy security with the EU and was in no hurry to cooperate in other areas. However, the situation has changed, cooperation with the EU has become an important factor for Azerbaijan, despite the fact that Brussels criticized Baku for violations of human rights and democratic norms, Hasanov said.

Opening the way to reform, Azerbaijan seeks in any way to reduce criticism by Europe. The government has intensified negotiations and it would be right to get it signed and approved during the elections to the European Parliament, the expert believes.

"Inside the country there are serious obstacles. The dismissal of old officials impeding reforms is possible. External obstacles are inevitable, because close Azerbaijani-European relations annoy Russia. It can try to create tension within the Azerbaijani society and spur a wave of protests. But it seems to me that I. Aliyev is able to neutralize Russia and can achieve this because our main economic partner is Europe. Azerbaijani projects remain the best support for Europe, seeking to get away from the Russian energy hegemony.

The future document will be similar to the one that the EU has signed with Armenia, and perhaps in our case more space will be given to energy security," Hasanov said.

After the signing of such a document, discussions on the choice of foreign policy of Azerbaijan between Europe and Russia will stop. The agreement will allow the authorities to carry out political reforms, Avaz Hasanov said. -0-