THE PRIORITIES ARE SET

On February 5-6, President Ilham Aliyev made an official visit to Brussels at the invitation of the Chairman of the European Council Donald Tusk. The agenda of meetings was quite intense. President Aliyev met with King Philippe of Belgium, the top management of the European Union, including the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, President of the European Commission (EC), Jean-Claude Juncker, Vice-President of the European Commission on Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič. The parties identified the main directions of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU during substantive negotiations. At a joint briefing held after a business lunch, Donald Tusk and Ilham Aliyev informed the media about the key achievements of the successful visit.

"Azerbaijan is an important partner for the European Union and we support its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Based on a reliable and strategic partnership in the energy sector, we want to increase our cooperation. Azerbaijan is of great importance for the energy security and diversification of Europe's supply. We have a common commitment to finish the Southern Gas Corridor. It actually is a key priority for both parties", said Donald Tusk. He stressed that the EU is ready to raise the bilateral relations to a higher level through a new bilateral agreement.

Ilham Aliyev focused on the issues of economic cooperation, primarily in the energy sector, and accented the problem of settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He reaffirmed the willingness of Baku to sign a bilateral agreement on strategic partnership with the European Union, the text of which is currently reviewed by diplomats from both sides. "We have strategic partnership agreements with nine, i.e. one third of the EU countries. This is a good basis for future arrangements between the European Union and Azerbaijan", said Ilham Aliyev.

In accordance with the principles of the European Neighbourhood Policy, the new agreement will be the basis for renewed political dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan. The draft of the Partnership Priorities Agreement was presented by the EC delegation headed by the Director-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (NEAR) Christian Danielsson during a preceding visit to Baku. This document should replace the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement of 1996 to reflect the new realities of Azerbaijan and the European Union and to become a blueprint for the next three years. In addition to the priorities in energy and transport sectors, it will cover important issues such as the convergence of standards in the industry, agriculture, tourism, trade, environmental protection, visa facilitation, educational programs, and so forth. EU’s clear position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is of fundamental importance for Azerbaijan.

It is well known that in November the EU Council approved a mandate to negotiate the new agreement with Azerbaijan by the European Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. President Aliyev's visit to Brussels would have to accelerate this process. As stated by Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev, substantive negotiations on the new draft of the Strategic Partnership Agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan will begin in April-May 2017 in Baku. The second round of talks scheduled to be held in Brussels, the third - again in Baku. Azerbaijan’s proposal is to negotiate three blocks of the agreement: political and security issues, trade and investments, and finally - economic, social, humanitarian and other areas of cooperation. While the first set of questions is crucial for Azerbaijan, parallel negotiations on all blocks of issues is not excluded.

In addition to the launch of negotiations between the European Union and Azerbaijan, President Aliyev's visit to Brussels was of great importance in the context of the promotion of large-scale energy projects driven by Baku. This was also confirmed by the EU High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, EC Vice President Federica Mogherini during the meeting with Aliyev. She emphasized that the Southern Gas Corridor is very important for the European Union. Similarly, President of the EC Jean-Claude Juncker also noted the role of this project in ensuring Europe's energy security and diversification of gas supplies. He promised both the political support of Brussels and the necessary assistance of European financial institutions in the implementation of energy and transport projects in Azerbaijan.

During his visit, Ilham Aliyev also visited the city of Waterloo, where he laid flowers at the monument of Khurshidbanu Natavan, a great Azerbaijani poet, the last daughter of the Karabakh khan Mehdigulu Khan. He also met with Rene van der Linden, former President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), who is the current head of Netherlands-Azerbaijan friendship group.

The main result of the European visit of Aliyev was the confirmation of mutual interest of the parties in the development and deepening of relations and cooperation in all fields. The European Union is the top partner of Azerbaijan in terms of foreign economic relations. According to statistics, more than half of the imported products come from the EU countries. Azerbaijan is becoming an important source of diversification of hydrocarbon resources to European consumers. The EU is also the main source of foreign investment, advanced equipment, technology and management.

Many thousands of Azerbaijani undergraduate students, masters and doctoral students study in the European Union. European education, science and culture are an important source for progress on the path of progress of Azerbaijan. As noted by President Aliyev in his speech during a visit to Belgium: "Intercultural dialogue is an important area of ​​our cooperation with the European Union. Our country largely invests in inter-civilization and inter-cultural dialogue. We are a member of the Council of Europe and at the same time the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. We are a natural geographical and cultural bridge between civilizations. Azerbaijan’s investments in human capital and inter-religious dialogue give good results."

Today, when the civilizations suffer from strained incidents and the confrontation between the Islamic world and the Christian countries intensifies, multicultural Azerbaijan is a valuable partner for the EU. We hope that despite vain attempts of certain detractors, Baku’s relations with the European Union will strengthen, and the pragmatic cooperation will progress further.