Azernews.Az

`The real wealth of a country is as much its software than its hardware`

By Araz Abbasov
Deputy Editor-in-Chief

BAKU – AzerNEWS presents an interview with head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan Roland Kobia, another in the series of interviews with diplomats based in the country.

AzerNews: The EU energy commissioner, Gunther Oettinger, visited Azerbaijan recently. What is your assessment of the visit from the standpoint of its impact on the energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and the European Union?

Amb. Kobia: The visit by Commissioner Oettinger in June was a very important one on different accounts. During his visit in Baku Commissioner met with all the authorities of the country up to the President Ilham Aliyev. This is part of the regular and hi-level dialogue existing between the EU and Azerbaijan.

He was also an honorable guest opening the 19th International Oil and Gas Conference in Baku and the Exhibition conveying words from President Barroso.

The above events all confirmed and demonstrated that Azerbaijan is committed to the development of the Southern Gas Corridor with the EU, and to implementation of the Joint Energy Declaration signed by the President Ilham Aliyev and President Barroso in January 2011.

It is now clear that Azerbaijan understands that it is in its own political interest to develop physical and strategic energy links with Europe.

AzerNews: Are there any talks between the European Union and Azerbaijan on simplifying visa procedures?

Amb. Kobia: The negotiations between the EU and Azerbaijan on visa facilitation are about to start. This stems from the roadmap contained in the Eastern Partnerships.

The EU knows how important visa facilitation is for Azerbaijan, for its population and the imprint it wants to give to the future of the country.

Visa facilitation is not a dream; it is a concrete project that can be realized if there is enough political will in Azerbaijan.

As a proof thereof, other countries such as Ukraine, Moldova and your close neighbor Georgia, have already managed to carry out the necessary reforms and now benefit from the visa facilitation. These reforms touch upon issues like border management, security, technical requirements, and above all the readmission agreements. So it comes with some little homework to be done.

I would like also to mention that in June, the EU sent to Baku a "migration mission", precisely to move on in this preparatory process. One of the purposes of their visit was in fact to discuss the issues directly related to the visa facilitation and they looked all issues of interest with all different types of interlocutors, both from government and civil society.

I am personally confident that the negotiations could start already this year.

AzerNews: Azerbaijan has joined the non-aligned movement and has officially stated that it may say "no" to Nabucco. Can this be an indication of some problems or misunderstanding in Azerbaijan's relations with the European Union?

Amb. Kobia: First, I have never heard any formal "no" to any project, and to be frank I see no misunderstandings.

Although Nabucco is one of the major gas pipeline projects as it brings large volumes of gas through a dedicated infrastructure, we should mention other projects like ITGI, TAP and AGRI to which the EU also attaches importance. We would like all projects to be entering into synergies and developing a gas highway to Europe.

Both parties have a well understood interest to that. The most essential thing for us is that gas starts flowing to Europe.

As for the decision Azerbaijan is going to make regarding the pipe, whatever decision it will be, it is going to be a sovereign decision of Azerbaijan that we shall respect.

We know Azerbaijan will soon produce more exportable gas than Shah Deniz 2, and this should be factored in the decision, not to deprive oneself from the increasing demand of gas on world markets following recent trends (Fukushima effect, decreasing indigenous production in EU, post crisis prospects...).

AzerNews: Can Azerbaijan's joining the non-aligned movement have any impact on the country's integration into Euro-Atlantic space?

Amb. Kobia: The decision is new, we have taken a note of it and we are studying its impact. Azerbaijan is totally free to make its own decisions. We just analyze the signals this sends to all.

It goes without saying that joining non-aligned movement does not bring Azerbaijan closer to Europe. If you look at the membership of this organization, apart from Belarus you will not see any other European country represented there.

As I said we are going to analyze this and compare its coherence with the previous statements on EU integration made by Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan is totally free to go the way it wants but one cannot walk in two different directions at the same time.

AzerNews: Baku often accuses European institutions of discriminating against Azerbaijan and applying double standards in matters related to democracy, freedom of speech and press. How legitimate do you think these accusations are?

Amb. Kobia: First and foremost, I have to repeat again that recent international events have convinced us more than ever that one should be uncompromising on human rights and democracy. History shows the relevance of this endeavor, even if it does not serve the selfish and short-term interests of a few.

Now, on your question, if you look at the facts and not at perceptions, that is not entirely true. Transparency, fair treatment, equality of partners - those are values on which the EU bases its partnership. We apply the same principles to all countries, even to our own EU countries. For example, we issued very strong statements on Belarus, Georgia when they dispersed street protesters, the same on Armenia. We condemn human rights problems in China and Russia. I think that when making such statements one has to look at the facts and be free of emotions.

One thing which also shows openness and transparency of the EU is Wikileaks. The lack of any single cable on the EU demonstrates that we don't have any hidden agenda, we do not speak a double language; with the EU, what you see is what you get.

AzerNews: The progress report of the European Neighborhood Policy points to the importance of the EU participation in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. Then you stated that the EU was not invited to the OSCE Minsk Group and did not prepare for joining it. In Azerbaijan, however, the possibility of the EU joining the mediatory mission has been discussed for several years now. How realistic do you think such a prospect is? And what can the EU do outside the group to resolve the conflict?

Amb. Kobia: I would like to reaffirm our full support to the work of the OSCE Minsk Group, and the principles its work is based upon. It is true wed have never been invited and there are no signs we will ever be; if anyone wants a different scenario, he should speak up.

However we do not want to remain inactive as Nagorno-Karabagh is the only conflict at the borders of the EU in which it is not directly involved. A curiosity of history.

The EU is therefore willing to be more helpful, to complement the work along and around the Minsk Group process. However, at the end of the day, it does not matter which party joins the mediation process. What it all boils down to is that no peace agreement will be reached without the will of two Parties to the conflict, i.e. Azerbaijan and Armenia, to find a mutually acceptable solution, in making compromises. It is for the two Parties to decide what to accept or not for the good of their populations.

Both President of the European Commission Jose Barroso and Managing Director for Europe and Central Asia in the European External Action Service, Miroslav Lajcak, during their visits to Baku this year confirmed their support for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and their readiness to help.

We are also launching a number of measures of support around the negotiations of the Minsk Group as we believe different layers of actors need to be ready when the peace agreement is reached between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

AzerNews: The agreement on cooperation between Azerbaijan and the European Union was signed 15 years ago. What is your assessment of these 15 years of cooperation?

Amb. Kobia: The signing of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement in 1996 was quite an important step, as it was the first international agreement that Azerbaijan has concluded with the European Union, just a few years after the regained independence.

There is tremendous cooperation existing between the EU and Azerbaijan now. If we look at where this cooperation was and where it is now we will see how much that has changed and developed. Our cooperation started in the very early days of Azerbaijan's recovered sovereignty with provision of food, humanitarian aid, assistance with demining activities. The EU was there to help way before energy was an issue at all.

Today those relations expanded, I would even say exploded. Up to now the EU allocated to Azerbaijan about 500 million euros for support of various projects.

Today our cooperation is increasing in all fields, like politics, social sectors, trade, people to people contacts, culture, energy, and cover almost all the possible sectors of cooperation between equal partners. The number of EU States represented in Azerbaijan has increased and they are all very active. Just look at the cumulated number of hi-level visits.

We are blessed to have a very dynamic group of Ambassadors showing empathy and solidarity with resilience and professionalism. Basket ball fans would say that we have an "EU Dream Team" here to develop our bilateral and European relations with Azerbaijan!

I am happy to see these developments, and I am personally committed to bring these efforts to even better skies.

AzerNews: Azerbaijan has won the Eurovision Song Contest in Dusseldorf. In your opinion, how could a country which has not fully integrated into the European family embrace the latest European music trends and captivate the hearts of millions in Europe?

Amb. Kobia: I would like once again to congratulate the Azerbaijani people with this wonderful victory. That was a stunning performance by the Azerbaijani duo, which touched hearts of the millions of people in Europe and demonstrated to the whole world what a rich culture and musical traditions Azerbaijan has.

For me, this is more than a victory in simple song contest called "Eurovision" but it is rather a step in a "Vision for Europe".

It will allow Europe to know more about Azerbaijan. I am convinced that Eurovision 2012 will be a memorable edition.

Now, I would like to also encourage Azerbaijan to play this historical card and to make use of this rare popular opportunity not only to show its physical infrastructure and economic power, but to demonstrate the efforts made on human development, on freedoms and political direction to the shared European values. The real wealth of a country is as much its software than its hardware.