Foreign

Baku – APA. Interview with European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle

- How do you see the perspectives of EU-Azerbaijan cooperation in the framework of Eastern Partnership program? What finance EU will allocate to Azerbaijan in the coming years in the framework of Eastern partnership program?

- The Eastern Partnership program will continue to evolve in the future. Our revised Neighborhood Policy has drawn the lessons from the Arab Spring: political and economic reforms are crucial to sustainable development and we, the EU, must work with all walks of societies, not only with governments but also with parliaments and civil society organisations etc. This is a clear orientation for us for the future and we have discussed this in Warsaw in September with our Eastern partners: working with civil society, respect for values and democracy, fundamental freedoms, rule of law were highlighted as key elements.

The Association Agreement we negotiate with our Eastern Partners will allow a closer political and economic integration of the entire region. It will promote exchanges with EU but also exchanges within the region – it will promote regional integration. New sets of trade agreements and increased mobility will give new impetus to the relations between the EU and its neighbors. At the heart of this is the promotion of prosperity and stability in the EU and at its border. Azerbaijan, the strongest economy in the region, will undoubtedly benefit from those developments in the future.

We have set three orientations for the future of the Eastern Partnership. First, we are working on a Road Map to further the implementation of the program. We need to reflect on the "more for more" concept and agree on reform objectives with partner countries that we can support with concrete cooperation tools and projects. And we need all countries to buy into the process of closer integration with EU as it benefits both the EU and those countries. Second, we will continue implementing our bilateral cooperation and I am glad that progress is being made in Azerbaijan on that matter. Third, probably the most challenging aspects, we need to strengthen our role in conflict resolution, as no less that 4 out 6 of Eastern Partners have unresolved conflicts that affect their development and their relations with the EU. The EU will work more on confidence building measures between Azerbaijan and Armenia and has appointed a Special Representative to assist existing mediating process.

All those efforts within the framework of the partnership – including hundreds of millions of financial assistance to the region - will clearly benefit Azerbaijan. But it is up to Azerbaijan to actively engage with us, with the EU, to ensure that the country can derive maximum benefit from our mutual cooperation. EU and Azerbaijan have built a strong relationship since the 1990’s – it is up to us – in our various negotiation framework – to take those relations to an even higher level.

- What has been achieved during EU-Azerbaijan cooperation in 2011? And what kind of projects (in what spheres) does EU plan to realize in Azerbaijan in 2012?

- 2011 was definitely a very intensive year in the history of EU-Azerbaijan relations. Never before have there been so many high level bilateral visits between the EU and Azerbaijan: European Commission President Mr. Barroso, European Parliament President Mr. Buzek, European Commission Vice-president and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Mrs Ashton traveled to Baku, to name just few. Equally significant was Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Brussels in June, when he met with all EU leaders, and his participation in the Eastern Partnership Summit in Warsaw last September. I think the increase in the number of high level visits reflect an intensification of our relations.

At policy level we have progressed throughout the year in the negotiation of the future Association Agreement. Overall, we are satisfied with the progress to date and hope to speed it up further in 2012. Let me also stress that this agreement will be far reaching in terms of scope and depth and very much in the interest of both parties.

The EU also fostered its partnership with Azerbaijani state institutions. Our financial support to the country was increased by 65% in 2011 compared to 2010. Some examples of our cooperation include EU Support to justice reform (3,7 million manats) and to energy sector (3 million manats). In addition, eight twinning projects were launched, for example, in the area of electronic auditing, social protection, occupational health and safety and with the Ombudsman Administration on enhancement of the institution capacity.

Our cooperation however does not limit itself to state actors. It also delivers to Azerbaijani citizens. In 2011 again, we contracted out civil society partners to implement sixteen new projects for which we allocated over 2.7 million manats of budget. Those include projects directed at supporting vulnerable, disabled people, Internally Displaced Persons, at enhancing mental health service, at raising public awareness on domestic violence, at empowering municipalities and at enhancing media and civil society. 2011 was a very active year indeed and I am convinced that 2012 will follow suit: we have launched negotiations on new visa-facilitation / readmission agreements that will promote the mobility for Azerbaijani citizens who want to come to the EU. It will make it easier, cheaper and quicker to obtain a short term Schengen visa.

We continue to work with Azerbaijan on issues of democracy and human rights. The overall situation of human rights in Azerbaijan has not improved in 2011. In 2011 there have been no less than eight European Union statements expressing concerns on human rights issues in Azerbaijan and in which we have encouraged Azerbaijan to further strengthen its efforts to effectively ensure that democracy and human rights gain the prominence, domestically, that these values rightly deserve.

We all know the huge opportunity of the Eurovision Song Contest to place Azerbaijan on the map. For many viewers, this contact with Azerbaijan may be their first one. It is important to show the world the image of a tolerant Azerbaijan, an Azerbaijan that is open and respecting its commitments in human rights and rule of law. This opportunity should not be missed.

- EU officials stated to be more active in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution. What kind of concrete measures EU can propose to the sides to assist the resolution of the conflict?

- The EU is indeed concerned with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict – a conflict which many see as "frozen" but which we well know claims the lives of dozens of people, year after year, and affects the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Azerbaijan. The existing status-quo is unacceptable. Last year the Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Ambassador Philippe Lefort was appointed to specifically deal with the conflicts in the region and assist existing facilitation efforts.

We consider the OSCE Minsk Group as the only format for resolution of this conflict, as agreed by all interested parties. The Minsk Group has put a lot of efforts into solving the conflict and has been instrumental to help avoid an escalation of the conflict. Now it is time for Azerbaijan and Armenia to move in the direction of reaching a peace agreement. Both sides must understand that the complexity of the situation requires concessions and compromises. Once decisions are made, the EU will be ready to help the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities to co-exist in Nagorno-Karabakh, to build trust and confidence between them and assist with various reconstruction and rehabilitation activities. Peace will bring prosperity to both sides and to the whole region. There is no time to lose. Time is not on the side of peace.

The EU is committed to supporting confidence-building measures between the parties. Following the first project that concluded its activities in 2011, a new more ambitious package is expected to start activities in the following couple of months. Trust, tolerance and mutual respect are necessary ingredients of any peace settlement. A sense of a “win- win” approach to a peace settlement should prevail. In this context, tension along the Line of Contact will have to stop and both sides should refrain from inflammatory language.

The EU and its Member States have a long experience of reconciliation and are happy to share it with Azerbaijan and Armenia.


- The negotiations on a legally binding treaty between the EU, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to build a Trans Caspian Pipeline System have started in autumn 2011. Are the negotiations still going on? What are the results?

- Last September the European Commission was given a mandate to start conducting negotiations on the Trans-Caspian Pipeline Project with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. The first trilateral meeting was held in Brussels with participation of the EU, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan delegations. In addition the EU also invited Kazakhstan to join the project. The negotiations are continuing. We have partners who share common interests – Europe needs energy and this part of the world has large gas and oil reserves. A tripartite agreement is only natural to ensure that needs are met and that all partners benefit from an agreement. The partner countries want to have reliable, diversified and rule based markets with good prices and the world’s best consumers. This, the EU can provide. We need and continue to rely in the future on large volumes of imported gas. Azerbaijan and the region can provide this. I see this as a win-win situation. It will take time and efforts but it will work out – because it is in the interest of all of us.

- The financial crisis has affected and is still affecting the EU, especially some of its MS. In this context, will the EU intend to support finance a scale energy projects like Trans Caspian Pipeline (TCP), Nabucco etc.? And won’t the crisis prevent that?

- The current economic situation may indeed impact on economic operations in the EU and elsewhere. But let me be clear: the EU does not provide financial support to any of those projects. Nabucco is NOT to be funded by public money but by private companies. At the end of the day, any project supplying gas from the region to the EU should be commercially profitable, be it the TCP, Nabucco, ITGI, TAP, TANAP, SEEP or any other initiatives that are on the table.
To ensure energy security for the EU, we would want to see large volumes and scalable projects. There will be an increasing demand for gas, be it from Azerbaijan, from Central Asia or from other parts of the world. We are not promoting a specific project or a specific business proposal, we are delivering on the long term objectives of our EU energy policy, namely to ensure security of supplies. This is the real driving force behind our involvement in the TCP and the Southern Corridor to Europe.

- The EU and Azerbaijan are still negotiating an Association Agreement – since July 2010. What questions remain to be agreed and what prevents the finishing of the negotiations?

- First of all, I have to mention that negotiations on the Association Agreements are a complex process covering the widest range of issues you can think of. Twenty months is a short time for such type of negotiations. It includes political dialogue, justice, freedom and security, trade and economy, energy, social sectors and many more aspects. You have to keep in mind that the Association Agreement we are negotiating with Azerbaijan is the most comprehensive type of agreement that the EU can have with a third country.

Clearly, getting closer to EU regulations and practices that have been shaped for decades takes time. Getting closer to 500 million potential customers and citizens needs reforms and necessary adjustments. So we need time to discuss details and explain positions to each other, so that Azerbaijan clearly perceives the advantages in political, social, economic terms and its commitments with the EU. We share principles and values with Azerbaijan, those that the country freely committed itself to when it joined OSCE; the Council of Europe some ten years ago and concluded a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the EU. The EU and Azerbaijan have progressed in their negotiations well since 2010 and we hope that 2012 will allow us to continue – and even to speed up – this process. The latest round of negotiations on an Association Agreement was conducted in October 2011 in Baku when considerable progress was reached. The next will take place in Brussels in the near future. But ultimately, the EU is not "forcing" the agreement on Azerbaijan; it negotiates the agreement with Azerbaijan: the pace of progress entirely depends on the country’s efforts and commitments to integrate further with the EU. I have no doubt that 2012 will be an important year for the Association Agreement with Azerbaijan.

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