On 18 July, the President of the EU Commission Charles Michel visited Azerbaijan where he met with the country’s President Ilham Aliyev.  

The two sides praised the trade and bilateral relations between the EU and Azerbaijan, highlighting the cooperation in energy security. “The European Union is our main trading partner. Almost 40% of our trade is with the European Union. Last year’s trade turnover was almost $9.5 billion. $6.8 billion dollars is [the amount of] Azerbaijani export to EU member states. More than 1,700 companies from member states work in Azerbaijan. This also demonstrates the scope of our economic activity,” Aliyev said. “With 9 member states of the EU, Azerbaijan signed or adopted documents on strategic partnership. So, one-third of EU member states consider Azerbaijan as a strategic partner. I think this is a very big achievement of our government. This also creates additional opportunities for cooperation. Important part on our agenda, of course, is related to energy security,” he added.

Of special importance to Aliyev was the Southern Gas Corridor. “With the EU we, for many years, are chairing the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council and under the leadership of EU and Azerbaijan Advisory Council also became an important factor of successful implementation of this project. The 3,500 km length integrated pipeline system and huge Shah Deniz 2 gas field’s development really is a unique experience of cooperation between countries, companies, and international financial institutions. The total investments in the South Gas Corridor project were more than $33 billion. At the same time, for many years already, for 15 years Azerbaijan is a reliable crude oil supplier to European consumers. And now, as a gas supplier our potential, of course, will grow and this will create more opportunities for us as an exporter, for transiters and for consumers, because gas from Azerbaijan is not only gas from the new route but is a gas from the new source. This makes this project really the project of energy security,” Aliyev stated. 

Furthermore, Aliyev spoke about opportunities in regional connectivity following the end of the Second Karabakh War. “After the second Karabakh war there are new opportunities for opening of all communications in the region as it was provided by the trilateral agreement of 9 November last year. So, this issue was broadly discussed today, as well as other issues of post-conflict development in the region, because this created a new situation, this created new realities. Therefore, now it is time to think about peace and to turn the page. We are ready for that. Today, with Mr. President we broadly discussed our plans, our initiatives, and our approaches to the newly emerged situation. I think that by demonstrating good will and a very pragmatic approach in a relatively short period of time, we can resolve most of the still remaining issues on the table and lay down the foundation for a broad regional cooperation in the region,” he said. “The EU plays, and I am sure will play very important role from this point of view and the visit of Mr. President to the three countries of the South Caucasus demonstrates European involvement, European agenda. It is fully in line with our agenda. Our views coincide with this issue also. Of course, the post-conflict development with respect to connectivity issues, with respect to issues of reconstruction of the liberated territories will be always on our agenda,” he added.

Charles Michel, in his turn, stated that the European Union is ready to support efforts to make progress on various issues. For example, it is a question of delimitation of borders, and for this we are ready to provide European expert assistance and, if necessary and desired, European monitoring. As for the delimitation of borders, there is also the issue of the armed forces located close to the disputed areas. Michel also underlined the importance of regional cooperation in various fields: the energy sector in the whole region and even beyond its borders. “Infrastructure is important. This is especially true for transportation and various routes”, he said. Michel also commented on the situation related to Azerbaijan and Armenia: “In fact, I would like to thank you that even before this visit, a few weeks ago, we had several telephone conversations to exchange views on the analysis of the regional situation. I would like to thank you for your commitments. Those were the first steps taken. On the one hand, there is the issue of the availability of minefield maps, and, on the other hand, there is the issue of detainees, which is considered an important one. At the first stage, this was resolved. We do hope that other stages related to this issue will take place in the near future”, he added.