"The problem is official Baku"

The next summit of the European Union's Eastern Partnership program is expected in December. It was officially confirmed that a meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will take place within the framework of the summit. The agreement on organizing a meeting of the leaders of the two countries within the framework of the Eastern Partnership summit to be held on December 15 in Brussels was reached at the suggestion of the President of the European Union Charles Michel on November 19 during a telephone conversation between President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.

What results can be expected from the summit, as well as from the meeting of the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia?

Zaur Akbar, former board member of the European Union's Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, answered ASTNA's questions regarding the upcoming summit.

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Question: Can the December visit of Ilham Aliyev to Brussels be considered an opened window of opportunity from the point of view of relations between the European Union and Azerbaijan?

Answer: The December visit of Ilham Aliyev to Brussels can be described as the loss of the opening opportunity for Azerbaijan.

As you know, in December, Brussels will host the next summit of the EU's Eastern Partnership program. I would like to note that at the summit, the leaders of the 5 Eastern Partnership countries (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) will meet with the leaders of the 27 member states of the European Union.

Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov's promises on behalf of the government during his visit to Brussels last December at a meeting of the negotiating council on a strategic partnership agreement gave the EU (European Union) high hopes about Azerbaijan's interest in this agreement. Ilham Aliyev even repeatedly told the local press about the acceleration of this process and the soonest signing of the agreement.

In May this year, it became known that official Baku intends to hastily conclude this agreement with the European Union. The EU told Baku that it is interested in developing a more perfect document, albeit with a delay. This message was conveyed by the European Union through the organization's president, Charles Michel, who arrived in Baku on an official visit in the summer.

Question: Is it possible to sign an agreement with the EU within the framework of this visit, or any progress in signing an agreement?

Answer: I must note with regret that the long-awaited Strategic Partnership Agreement will not be signed at this summit. Because official Baku could not, or rather, did not want to use the given time.

Question: What is the current situation around this agreement? Has Azerbaijan fulfilled the terms of the agreement?

Answer: One of the points of the Agreement on Strategic Partnership was the question of Azerbaijan's membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). However, official Baku sent an alternative trade package to the European Union in exchange for its unwillingness to join the WTO. Now the EU is getting acquainted with this document, studying it. The European Commission has yet to give a final opinion on this package.

Official Baku did not take serious steps on two of the other three points of the agreement ...

Question: It became known that within the framework of this visit, a meeting will also take place between Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan. What are your expectations from this meeting? Can any steps be taken to improve relations between the two countries and to sign documents at a meeting organized by the EU?

Answer: The meeting between Ilham Aliyev and Pashinyan has been organized by the EU. Although at first glance this meeting looks favorable, nevertheless, in the current situation, it is not possible to achieve a serious result. It is quite possible that the EU will offer the parties some investment proposals for the reconstruction of the territory. This may apply to territories liberated from occupation, humanitarian support, demarcation and delimitation between the two countries. However, the fact that the process is currently under Russian control is a serious obstacle to their implementation.

Overall, it would be good for the EU to join the process as a global and regional player. For this, official Baku must put forward its proposals. The more the process gets out of control of Russia, the better.

Question: When can the signing of an agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan take place? What steps need to be taken to expedite the signing of this agreement?

Answer: The soonest signing of the agreement depends on official Baku. But we, unfortunately, have not yet seen interest in this and decisive steps. In short, the problem is official Baku.

Kamran Mahmudov