That a priority for the West oil or democracy ?

“What is  prior for  the West: democracy or energy interests?” was the theme of discussions at a round table organized by the Center for National and International Studies (CNIS.)  It was planned to hold the event at the hotel ISR-Plaza, but just  before the start of the hotel canceled the event under the pretext of a power outage. Therefore, the  event was held in the office of the Azerbaijan National Committee of Helsinki Citizens' Assembly.
One of the speakers, Eugenie Zhovtis  from the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights spoke about the experience of this country , where the West often sacrifices democracy for the sake of energy interests.
According to expert, oil, gas , counter-terrorism and security are the enemies of democracy. Due to  its energy interests and security the West closes eyes to human rights problems. At the same time, the  authoritarian regimes, using these factors interact in opposing democracy.
The expert of CNIS  Jeyhun Veliyev focused on the U.S. policy towards Azerbaijan over the past 20 years. Prior to 2001, due to the effects of Section 907 to the Freedom Support Act , Washington's assistance to the development of democracy in Azerbaijan was limited.
After the attacks of September 11, 2001 Azerbaijan's importance in security issues for the U.S. increased. And the action of the  Section 907 was suspended. After that the  American governmental institutions such as USAID, IREX began to operate in Azerbaijan  to support projects of democracy and civil society.
But on the other hand, due to the increased role of Azerbaijan , Washington did not show enough attention to the problems of democracy.
Supporting the color revolutions of 2003-2004 in Georgia and Ukraine , the United States took a contemplative stance on wholesale falsification of the presidential elections in 2003 in Azerbaijan.
Since 2004, according to  the  Fredoom House, the situation in Azerbaijan with democracy has become steadily worse.
However, after 2008, when it was decided to phase-out the operation in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan's role in global security began to diminish. Since that time, the United States gradually intensify criticism of the human rights situation in Azerbaijan , increasing attention to this topic.
A journalist-analyst  Shahin Abbasov spoke about Azerbaijan's relations with the EU. He spoke about  the "double standards" of the EU in relation to democracy in Azerbaijan. In  the policy of the  EU prevails the energy factor due to objective and subjective reasons.
In recent years, the importance of Azerbaijan in the energy security of Europe is growing, and Baku realizes important pipeline projects - TAP and TANAP. At the same time , Baku oppose democratic reforms , but European integration is not yet a national idea, as it was in Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.
Therefore, the EU does not insist on acceleration of democratic reforms.
But there are subjective factors influencing the  EU policy towards Azerbaijan. In recent years power has  launched an active lobbying in Europe, using the "caviar diplomacy." Supporting cultural projects, sports events , such as the European Olympic Games , Baku creates a favorable image of the successful model of the secular regime in a Muslim country. Besides , Baku economically supports the EU recruits from among the former socialist bloc, which also have a voice in the EU.
At the same time,  the EU  condemns on top level  harassment of activists and journalists, and critical evaluation of the OSCE ODIHR presidential elections in Azerbaijan.
Russian expert Arkady Dubnov spoke on the strategic interests of the West and democracy in Russia . According to him,  before in Russia  it was  possible to talk about the simulation, sovereign democracy ,  but now talks about democracy in Russia are a sign of bad  behavior. In his view,  over the past two years Russia  has entered the path of open disregard for the principles of democracy and the destruction of the institutions of civil society.—06C--