Azerbaijan-EU: Strategic partnership in era of change

The partnership between Azerbaijan and Europe is perhaps one of the rare cases when the parties interact only for the benefit of each other, and not against anyone. Azerbaijan has not set and does not aim to join the EU, it has never sought to simply join a strong side and hide in its shadow, but has talked about an equal and mutually beneficial partnership based on common interests and mutual respect. Baku has made enough efforts to ensure that the European Union finally begins to distinguish it from other Eastern Partnership countries and understands how much Europe needs it. Many experts believe that the EU needs Azerbaijan even more than Azerbaijan needs the EU.

If we eliminate the rough edges related to the interests of third parties, then Azerbaijan and the European Union are natural and trouble-free partners. This partnership has successful realities and excellent prospects. Europe needs a reliable, predictable and consistent partner like Azerbaijan. Moreover, the partner is solvent and negotiable, who will not look into the European pocket. In these difficult times, capable and solvent economic partners should be valued. In turn, Azerbaijan needs a stable European market, promotion of its interests and expansion of the circle of friends and partners. And Baku knows how to make friends and maintain friendship.

The European Union has always understood the strategic importance of Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan has viewed Europe as a kind of positive benchmark to strive for.

"The European Union is the number one trading partner. I am confident that with new projects, with new investment opportunities - and investments are going in two directions, we are also actively investing in Europe now - our trade turnover will definitely grow," President Ilham Aliyev said in a press statement after meeting with Antonio Costa.

In recent years, relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union have been assessed as nothing but strategic. After Azerbaijani gas went to Europe, all doubts about the strategic importance of relations with Baku disappeared. This is especially noticeable today, in difficult times of global change. These changes are not the best. Geopolitical transformations have already created significant challenges for global supply chains and energy security. Just like during the last energy crisis, the countries that chose Azerbaijan as an alternative source of their energy security found themselves in the best situation. The war in Ukraine and the re-outbreak of war in the Middle East, which disrupted traditional energy supply chains, forced many to turn their eyes to Azerbaijan, whose role has become even more noticeable.

It is no secret that there was a period when relations between Azerbaijan and the EU were not the best due to the fault of some EU officials. With the appointment of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice-President of the European Commission Kaia Kallas, the situation began to change. Last April, Ms. Kallas visited Azerbaijan. At the meeting with President Ilham Aliyev, it was decided to continue working on the partnership agreement. This visit and the discussions that took place during it triggered a reset of relations. Brussels needed to do its best to fix what the former head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrel, had done.

The visit of the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, is becoming a symbol of a new stage of relations. This is his first official visit to our country after taking office. At a press conference, President Ilham Aliyev said that the visit would make a significant contribution to the development of bilateral relations. They are developing successfully, especially recently. We have a very active dialogue, Azerbaijan and the EU are at a very active stage of cooperation.

It should be noted that the visit came at a very difficult time for Eurasia, forcing Europe to seriously reconsider its energy and geopolitical priorities. In the current situation, Azerbaijan may turn from one of the alternative guarantors of energy security into the main one. It has the resources to do this, and it also has the opportunity to transit Central Asian energy resources, for which transit through Azerbaijani territory would be the most reliable and trouble-free today.

As President Ilham Aliyev said in a press statement, energy has been, is and will be the main engine of relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union. And Antonio Costa admitted that while the war in Iran is shaking up global energy markets, the EU's energy partnership with Azerbaijan is more important than ever.

"The European market accounts for half of our total gas exports and has potential for growth. Earlier this month, we held the annual meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council, an event jointly organized by Azerbaijan and the European Commission. In my speech there, I informed the audience that we plan to increase gas production this year. We will start gas production at the new field. And in two or three years, if everything goes according to plan, we will have at least an additional 10 billion cubic meters of gas, more than we have today," the Azerbaijani President said.

I remember that when plans were being made to lay TAP, Italy, which is today one of Azerbaijan's closest partners, talked about the "meaninglessness" of the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline. Baku has nevertheless achieved the continuation of the Southern Gas Corridor to Europe, and today there is hardly anyone among the buyers of Azerbaijani gas who will talk about the meaninglessness of the SGC. On the contrary, the number of buyers of Azerbaijani gas is growing. Today, Azerbaijan exports gas to 10 EU countries. Since January, deliveries to Western European countries - Austria and Germany - have also begun. Gas from Azerbaijani fields already accounts for 4 percent of supplies to the EU, which can be called an achievement if we compare Azerbaijan's capabilities with those of Russia or the Persian Gulf countries. In other words, the republic has already occupied its niche in the European energy market. It is noteworthy that no one has so far refused supplies from Azerbaijan. On the contrary, the Europeans are talking about expanding imports.

Energy remains a central element of cooperation between Baku and Brussels. Including the green one. Azerbaijan, as the President noted in a press statement, invests heavily in the development of wind and solar energy, which has great potential. "We are actively investing in wind, solar and hydropower. And our plan is to have 6 to 8 gigawatts of renewable energy ready for export in five to six years. That is why we are currently working with European partners on laying power transmission lines, underwater cables and other segments of the energy infrastructure. Today, when you arrived, we both noted that it is a very sunny day in Baku, which means that spring is coming. In fact, we have more than three hundred sunny days a year, and perhaps even more windy days. So, as you can imagine, Azerbaijan has a huge potential for wind and solar energy," the Azerbaijani leader noted.

It is noteworthy that the head of the EU Council stated in Baku that he was ready to invest in renewable energy in Azerbaijan. The European Union, he said, is ready to attract investments to support Azerbaijan's energy transition. According to him, European companies working in the field of renewable energy can play an active role in this. It should be noted that so far, Azerbaijan's main partners in the renewable energy sector have been Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, China and the United Kingdom.

Currently, work is underway on a feasibility study of an underwater energy cable for the supply of clean energy from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to Azerbaijan. In the future, this project will become part of the transcontinental energy corridor that will connect Central Asia with Europe. An extended energy route is being formed: Central Asia-the Caspian Sea-Azerbaijan-the South Caucasus-the Black Sea-Europe. And Azerbaijan will play the role of not only a supplier, but also a connecting link. Work is also underway on a green energy supply project along the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkiye-Bulgaria route, which will also serve the energy security of the European Union.

The EU cannot fail to understand that none of these projects would have taken place without Azerbaijan's initiative and capabilities.

Although the energy sector in the Baku-EU link still occupies a central place, the segment of transport and logistics connectivity is becoming increasingly relevant in the context of geopolitical perturbations. Logistics corridors are the blood vessels of global trade. Today, it is blocked by conflicts to the north and south of the South Caucasus, and this region has become, one can safely say, the road of life for the European Union. According to available data, container shipments along the Middle Corridor have increased almost fivefold since the beginning of March, and demand for the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway has increased by more than thirty percent. Thanks to such a reliable, proactive, far-sighted partner capable of solving large-scale tasks as Azerbaijan, the European Union has been given the opportunity not to stop. And again, it should be recognized that if it were not for Baku and its projects, the European and Asian markets would have a hard time today. Azerbaijan has created a modern infrastructure that allows cargo to move from China and Central Asia to Europe, bypassing traditional routes.

Today, the EU is ready to go even further and start participating in Azerbaijan's transport projects. At a meeting with President Ilham Aliyev in Davos, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said that the European Union is ready to support Azerbaijan in rebuilding the railway in NAR and including the Zangezur Corridor (TRIPP) in the pan-European transport network TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Networks). The EU will invest in the modernization of the railways of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The inclusion of European investments will help speed up the work and make the EU a direct participant in the project. The interest shown by the EU proves once again that Europe considers the South Caucasus as part of its transport architecture. In addition, the European Union thus shows that it does not want to lag behind the United States and also contributes to strengthening the peace process in our region.

At a press conference in Baku, Antonio Costa welcomed the creation of the Baku-Nakhchivan route and stated that the EU shares Azerbaijan's vision of a prosperous and interconnected South Caucasus.

Connecting Azerbaijan to the TEN-T network is not a new idea. Back in 2017, the AR and the EU signed a document defining the tentative map of the TEN-T network.  Azerbaijan is already contributing to the European network through projects such as Baku-Tbilisi-Kars and Baku International Commercial Sea Port. The inclusion of Azerbaijan's infrastructure in the TEN-T system significantly simplifies logistics between Europe and Asia through the Caspian region. Now the Zangezur corridor is next in line for connection.

Geography is a gift from God, but the ability to use it correctly is aerobatics, which the country has achieved thanks to a wise and far-sighted leader. The role of President Ilham Aliyev is indisputable. Under his leadership, Azerbaijan has formed a wide network of international partnerships. And the European Union has its own special place in it.

It can be said that today the relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union have already been reset and have entered a new stage of development. The visit of the head of the EU Council, Antonio Costa, is symbolic in this regard.