FM: Developing and strengthening partner¬ship with EU is one of Azerbaijan’s priorities

Azerbaijan, Baku, April 5 / Trend, E.Tariverdiyeva / Azerbaijan took its seat at the UN Security Council in early January 2012 for the very first time in its history and chaired the Council dur­ing May 2012, and it is a very significant achievement for the country, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said in an interview to The Business Year magazine. "This is a very significant achievement for a country that has come a long way from the brink of total political and economic collapse in the early 1990s. To put it into context, Azerbaijan is the first country to have been elected as a UN Security Council non-permanent member in the whole South Caucasus and Cen­tral Asian region, and only the second in the CIS region," Mammadyarov said. As President Ilham Aliyev said during his address to the Security Council, "Azerbaijan will always support international law and justice," and this role has allowed us to put into practice our long-standing commitment to the funda­mental principles of international law as well as the existing international system, Mammadyarov underscored. He said Baku has been in the spotlight as it has successfully hosted a range of regional and international gatherings, in­cluding the Baku International Humani­tarian Forum, the Heads of State Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organiza­tion (ECO), the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), and Eurovision Song Contest 2012. "In September 2012, we also held the Third Conference of Azerbaijani Ambassadors in Baku, which gave us an opportunity to look back at the achievements and look ahead to the coming challenges for our foreign policy. The conference was a great success as it coincided with the inaugura­tion of the new campus of the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy," Mammadyarov underlined. He said that in his address, President Ilham Aliyev touched on the achievements of Azerbai­jani diplomacy and identified the concrete tasks lying ahead. According to Mammadyarov, Developing and strengthening partner­ship with the EU in political, economic, and humanitarian spheres is one of the priorities of Azerbaijan's foreign policy. "Mutual cooperation with the Union can undoubtedly help us in achieving many of our goals, and we are therefore inter­ested in advancing our bilateral relations. It is vital that the cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU is built on the basis of efficiency, equal partnership, mutual understanding, and respect," he said. Mammadyarov underscored that Azerbaijan is steadily pursuing the modernization of the country in all areas, and it is important that the EU, as one of our partners, closely participates in this process. The approxi­mation of Azerbaijan's legislation with European standards, the strengthening of democracy and the rule of law, the devel­opment of trade and economic ties, and in­tegration into the common European edu­cation sphere remain among our priorities, he said. Hence, cooperation between Baku and Brussels should embrace all areas of common interest based on a bal­anced approach, and in this regard the EU should take into account the priorities and needs of Azerbaijan. "In our view, the EaP provides a use­ful framework for enhancing cooperation opportunities and deepening integration process. Azer­baijan envisages its relations with the EU in a broader context and does not intend to limit these relations to the framework of the European Neighborhood Policy or EaP," Mammadyarov said. From this perspective, Azerbaijan country intends to build strategic partnership with the EU beyond the energy sector. According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on strategic partnership in the energy field signed between Azerbaijan and the EU in 2006, it is possible to extend this strate­gic partnership to other sectors, he said. "Since the very first days of the establishment of the EaP, Azerbaijan, as the only energy rich country and net exporter of hydrocarbons, expressed its genuine interest and political will in helping the EU develop the concept of the Southern Gas Corridor," Mammadyarov noted. "Azerbaijan is making its contribution to energy security in Europe not only through diversified routes of supply, but most im­portantly by enabling diversified sources of those supplies. Furthermore, in January 2011 Azerbaijan reiterated its position to enhance the ongoing dialogue on energy security with the EU during the visit of the President of the European Commission to Azerbaijan," he underlined. Mammadyarov said the signing of that document represented a milestone for maximizing opportunities through enhancing regional transportation infrastructure. According to Mammadyarov, however, decisions to be taken by Azerbaijan along with our partners will be based first and foremost on the principles of commercial viability, profitability, transparency, and long-term predictability of various segments of the European market. "We believe that enhanc­ing our contribution to the energy security of Europe will also reciprocate and deliver many benefits to Azerbaijan, among which we put an emphasis on access to the Euro­pean market," he said. Azerbaijan's for­eign and economic relations embrace all geographic directions, including countries in the East, Mammadyarov said. "Azerbaijan is located on the historic Silk Road, and in fact we were the very first country to join the Transportation Corridor Europe Caucasus Asia (TRASECA) program, which envisages the revitaliza-tion of this lifeline for development and prosperity. Azerbaijan enjoys developing trade relations with most countries in the East, in particular China, Japan, South Ko­rea, and Indonesia," he said. Azerbaijan wants peace so that it can continue to grow the economy, he said. Baku was initiator of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars rail link, which once completed will undoubtedly increase the economic interaction between Azerbaijan and the East, Mammadyarov said. According to him, moreover, the new seaports and airports that are being constructed will also provide vital trans­portation infrastructure for the increasing trade and economic activities in the wider Caspian and Central Asian region Azerbaijan is interested in developing mu­tually beneficial economic and trade rela­tions with all countries, Mammadyarov said. Within the South Caucasus region, Azerbaijan has been sustainably developing economic relations with its strategic partner Georgia, which is a party to major regional projects in the energy and transport spheres. As a result, bilateral trade turnover between Azerbai­jan and Georgia grows yearly, he said. "Meanwhile, our country has no bilateral economic links with Armenia, whose armed forces still continue to keep under occupation around 20% of Azerbaijan's territories," Mammadyarov said. Armenia is isolated in the region because of unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and excluded from all the regional infra­structure and energy projects, he said. "When we can agree on lasting peace, Armenia could become one of the stakeholders in these regional projects," Mammadyarov said. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az