The thorny path of European integration of Azerbaijan

In the late 1990s and early 2000s in Azerbaijan, the most popular phrases in the rhetoric of politicians, public figures, civic activists, was the European integration. X At that time, the activity of Azerbaijan in the process of European integration gave reason to assume that in this case the country would become a leader and an example for other countries in the region. However, for many reasons, the process in the country has slowed down. This inhibition was so sharp that now in the issue of European integration this post-Soviet republic is an outsider not only in the South Caucasus. For even some Central Asian republics will very soon be able to bypass Azerbaijan in the process of rapprochement with the EU. A vivid example of this is Uzbekistan, where the new authorities opened the country to Europe and, as a sign of goodwill, unilaterally abolished visa procedures for EU citizens. In February, Uzbekistan and the EU "came to an understanding" on the structure of the new Expanded Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which will replace the agreement in force since 1999. According to incoming information, Uzbekistan plans in the near future to even begin negotiations on an aviation agreement with the EU.

On July 6 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and the European Union initialed a new agreement on expanded cooperation and partnership, which will replace the 1999 bilateral agreement. Unfortunately, in the case of Azerbaijan, cooperation with the EU is limited only to the energy sphere. Negotiations on two important treaties that are currently a priority - the new agreement with the EU and the aviation agreement - are not getting off the ground, despite numerous assurances from both parties. In this context, it would be right to compare these processes with similar actions in two other countries of the South Caucasus - Georgia and Armenia.

At the same time, the three countries of the South Caucasus that have gained independence after the collapse of the USSR, joined the Council of Europe and started other integration processes with European structures, are showing different results in strengthening the achievements of the early 2000s. Georgia and Armenia have deepened their cooperation with the EU, having gone far ahead from Azerbaijan. At the same time, Armenia managed to do this, being a member of various Eurasian integration structures created by Russia.

Georgia has signed an associative agreement with the EU, Armenia - an agreement on a Comprehensive Partnership. In contrast, for the third year Azerbaijan cannot complete negotiations on a new agreement, the scope of which is much narrower than an associative agreement. It is clear to all that if, by October 2019, negotiations on the draft of the new agreement are not completed, it will be necessary to wait for a positive outcome even longer. Since in October, a new team will work in the EU structures, formed on the basis of the May elections to the European Parliament.

Georgia and Armenia, without waiting for reciprocal steps from the EU, unilaterally canceled visa procedures for EU citizens. In recognition of this, after a few years, the EU abolished visas for Georgian citizens and it should not be surprising if the same decision is taken in relation to Armenia. Among the post-Soviet republics besides Azerbaijan, visa procedures for EU citizens have not been canceled only by Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.

Yes, Azerbaijan has greatly simplified obtaining visas for EU citizens and introduced the "ASAN visa" system. But this is still not a visa-free regime. However, citizens of the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf and some other countries can come to Azerbaijan without worrying about the visa and get it directly at the airport, and citizens of European countries, the integration into which is so often spoken about, should undergo visa procedures, although and simplified. Are the citizens of Europe more dangerous from the point of view of security issues, that their arrival requires the passage of visa procedures and checks ...

For many years the EU has been one of the first trade partners of Azerbaijan, but we force the citizens of this partner to go through all the stages of the visa procedures.

Discussing the issue of a new agreement with the EU, we should certainly mention the issue of membership in the WTO, since this fact was the first difficulty in the process of drawing up a treaty. The matter is that the EU, when signing agreements on cooperation with other countries, first of all relies on the rules and standards of the WTO, which greatly facilitates the negotiation process. In Azerbaijan, WTO membership is associated with Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmoud Mammadguliyev, who has been tirelessly repeating for many years that "negotiations are continuing." Azerbaijan has been observer at the WTO since 1997. A working group on Azerbaijan under the WTO secretariat was established on July 16, 1997. Only four post-Soviet countries are not members of the WTO - Azerbaijan, Belarus, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. And if we narrow the geography, then in the South Caucasus Azerbaijan is the only country in this regard.

Finally, the aviation agreement with the EU. And in this case we are outsiders in the South Caucasus. In fact, the citizens of Azerbaijan have become hostages of the whims of AZAL, which does not want to leave its monopolistic position. Despite numerous statements by AZAL representatives that they do not hinder any company wishing to carry out direct flights to Baku, practice shows the opposite. Yes, legally there are no obstacles. However, due to the highest bills are issued to companies wishing to fly to Baku to service the aircraft, the foreign company loses all interests in flights to Baku.

A simple statistics shows the real situation and refutes the statements of AZAL representatives.

In Georgia, the country with a population of about 5 million people, 50 flights are performed to more than 80 destinations. More than 50 of them are direct flights to cities in the EU. Wizzair performs direct flights to 40 European cities.

In Armenia, the country with a population of about 3 million people, fly 26 airlines.

In Azerbaijan with a population of 10 million people, fly 31 companies, and only seven perform direct flights to cities in the EU.

At the corresponding request of the Turan agency, representatives of Wizzair responded that the absence of an aviation agreement between Azerbaijan and the EU prevents them from carrying out flights to other European cities, except for Budapest.

The Azerbaijani side is mainly worried about the fate of AZAL, as it fears the bankruptcy of the national carrier after signing the agreement. However, the examples of Georgia and Ukraine show that national air carriers do not cease to exist, but on the contrary, under the healthy competition, they increase the direction of their flights.

All these three topics are key to full cooperation with the EU. In the end, we have to accept the fact that the process of cooperation with the EU should not be called the European integration of Azerbaijan, since we are located on the same continent as the EU member states. It would be more correct to call it the consent and adoption of EU standards, according to which European countries live. We should finally realize that Azerbaijan is not a European-oriented country, but one of the countries of Europe. We do not integrate into an alien civilization, but accept the rules and standards of most countries of the continent, in which we ourselves are located. Otherwise, we would not be members of the Council of Europe, our sports federations, creative unions would not be members of European associations, and we would not hold European championships in various sports, the European Football League final, Eurovision song contest. We should accept that we ourselves are Europe, and we are building relations with our European neighbors, even if they are distant.