BETWEEN THE EAST AND THE WEST

The interview granted by the Azerbaijani president to the Rai International TV channel during his official visit to Italy caused a keen interest not just among Italian, but also European politicians. This is understandable because the importance of the statements made by the head of state goes far beyond the framework of bilateral relations between our country and Italy and other EU countries. In this context, we would like to draw your attention to the following important aspects of President Aliyev's interview.

The president reaffirmed the active position of our country on the issue of guaranteeing the energy security of Europe and its firm allegiance to the implementation of the Nabucco project. But what is more important here is that he said that the success of this project depends not just on Baku as the active role of private member companies of the consortium, transit countries and Central Asian states is more important here. In other words, Azerbaijan is ready to provide the project with its own transit, and if necessary, gas possibilities. But the European Union and its member states must pursue a more active policy on this issue.

In this regard, the head of state's statement that not only countries consuming mineral resources, but also countries producing and extracting them have an interest in diversification is quite interesting. In this case, he implied Azerbaijan, which has no direct access to the world market of raw material. Hence, an important conclusion - for Baku it is important not only to participate in ensuring the energy security of Europe, but also to ensure its own energy security. For this reason, the Azerbaijani president often emphasizes that Azerbaijan has created and is successfully using a wide network of oil and gas pipelines which connect it to various countries and markets north, south, east and west of its borders. Experience shows that had it not been for the pipeline network, we would have become hostages to the diktat of consumers who often promote their own egoistical interests that are far from principles of the market economy.

The president's thesis that Baku has an interest in cooperation with the EU and expediting domestic processes of European integration in order to bring our country and society closer to European standards is extremely important, especially in the context of the recent growing interest of the European Union in our region. The emphasis was put on such important issues as increasing living standards, modernizing the political system, social justice and economic freedom. Incidentally, these subjects are a priority in the dialogue of European officials with the Azerbaijani side. We do not expect any privileges, subsidies or concessions from the EU - we have an interest in adopting the most advanced European criteria in the economic, social and political sectors. This should be considered as an important signal for the leadership of the EU and its member countries which are currently considering raising their relations with a number of CIS countries to a higher and more advanced level.

Commenting on the state of relations between our country and Italy and the EU as a whole, President Ilham Aliyev urged them to take account of Azerbaijan's growing role in the South Caucasus in their regional policy, not just in terms of the economic potential and development of our country, but also because Azerbaijan plays the role of a stabilizing factor in the region and has a positive influence on security and stability in the South Caucasus and in a wider region.

Addressing the Italian and European audience, the head of state confirmed the position of our country on the Moscow Declaration which was signed by the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia. This is important for the reason that in the recent period, Moscow and Yerevan have persistently emphasized while commenting on this issue that they ignore the basic aspect of this important document. This aspect is quite clearly stipulated in the first point of the Declaration - the conflict should be solved on the basis of principles and norms of international law and decisions and documents adopted within this framework.

Finally, we should pay attention to the fact that the head of state reaffirmed Baku's adherence to a balanced foreign policy in the regional and international arena and a policy aimed at the further development of positive relations with the East and the West. The independent development of our country has shown that this approach forms the basis of and is a kind of formula for the domestic and foreign policy success of our country.