Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijan’s foreign policy head has called the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict a major hindrance on the multifaceted benefits of the use of multilateral framework of Eastern Partnership.

“Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict remains a stumbling stone for making full use of the multilateral framework of Eastern Partnership as it keeps posing a serious threat in EU’s immediate neighborhood,” said Elmar Mammadyarov.

He made the remarks at the sixth meeting of foreign ministers of the Eastern Partnership of the European Union in Luxembourg on April 20, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported.

“Post-Vilnius developments, unfortunately, brought many challenges to the overall EaP region, including launching of another conflict. All conflicts in the EaP area have undergone a similar scenario and brought the same grave consequences – violation of territorial integrity, occupation and separatism,” Mammadyarov said.

The minister noted that now would be the time to demonstrate a unified stance and solidarity towards the settlement of all conflicts in the region.

Mammadyarov urged the European Union to demonstrate a firm response before security challenges exiting in the region.

“We expect the EU to demonstrate a firm response to security challenges that persist in the region by a consistent commitment to territorial integrity, sovereignty and the inviolability of international borders of Azerbaijan and we urge for the soonest implementation of respective UN Security Council resolutions adopted in this regard,” he said.

Over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, has been occupied by Armenian armed forces since a lengthy war between the two South Caucasus countries broke out in the early 1990s. The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions calling for an Armenian pullout, but they have not been enforced to date.

The minister expressed his belief that the long-awaited de-occupation of Azerbaijani territories will bring the people of the region and the international community peace and security.

Mammadyarov noted that Azerbaijan had many times over expressed its readiness to the calls of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to begin drafting a comprehensive peace agreement as to bring peace and stability to the region.

Touching upon the Azerbaijan-EU bilateral cooperation, he said post-Vilnius period has registered a considerable progress in Azerbaijan-EU relations despite persisting security challenges.

“Strategic partnership in the field of energy has evolved considerably thanks to the concrete steps taken by Azerbaijan in the realization of the Southern Gas Corridor. Groundbreaking ceremonies of the Southern Gas Corridor in Baku and later TANAP in Turkey’s Kars city were a clear manifestation of Azerbaijan’s strong commitment to bring alternative gas volumes to the European market,” Mammadyarov said.

He informed that upon the initiative of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and with the support of Vice-president of the European Commission on Energy Union Maros Sefcovic, the first meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor was convened in Baku on February 12, noting that the next meeting is planned to be in Turkey very soon.

Mammadyarov further added that the signature of the Mobility Partnership, Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements during and after Vilnius Summit have set the necessary ground for the practical implementation of the common goals.

He said Azerbaijan welcomes the public consultation launched by the EU to conduct a fundamental review of European Neighborhood Policy.

“In this regard, I would like to share my observations on 4 key points of ENP revision – differentiation, ownership, focus and flexibility,” Mammadyarov said.

Azerbaijan is convinced that the priority-driven and project-based cooperation as prerequisites of greater differentiation policy in the bilateral dimension of the Eastern Partnership promise positive outcome for mutual benefit, according to the minister.

He added that these priorities should be developed taking into account the geo-economic importance and geo-political position of Azerbaijan as well as major principles of its foreign policy.

Mammadyarov went on to say that Azerbaijan shares the EU’s dedication to increasing the focus on specific areas of cooperation which partner countries desire to develop.

“Economic development, energy, connectivity (transport, ICT and including common aviation area), migration, mobility are in the interests of Azerbaijan to promote in cooperation with EU. Meanwhile, taking note of the EU ambition to promote religious dialogue and cultural diversity in the ENP area, Azerbaijan is extremely keen on sharing its expertise with its lively multicultural environment,” he said.

Mammadyarov reiterated his country’s interest in EU-Azerbaijan cooperation in the spirit of strategic partnership.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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