EU urged to signal readiness to sign Strategic Partnership Agreement with Azerbaijan in Riga

The EU has been urged to use the Eastern Partnership (EaP) summit this week to signal its readiness to  sign a strategic partnership agreement with Azerbaijan. The keenly awaited summit in Riga, the capital of Latvia, is between the EU and the EaP six partner countries. 

Select EU leaders and representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine will try to keep the momentum moving for deeper ties despite the situation in Ukraine and broader tensions with Russia. The summit, to be held in on 21 and 22 May, takes place 70 years after the end of the Second World War.

Speaking to EU Reporter ahead of the keenly-awaited meeting, Azay Guliyev (pictured), a senior parliamentarian in Azerbaijan, said he hopes the EU will show that it is prepared to pave the way for signing a strategic partnership agreement with Azerbaijan. The MP also wants to see that the EU is interested in expanding its cooperation with Azerbaijan across a range of fields, including energy and trade. An EU-Azerbaijan Action Plan was adopted in 2006 based on the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement of 1999 and the EU and Azerbaijan have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of energy.

The two sides have also signed an agreement on visa facilitation and readmission. As a result, the number of mutual visits between Europe and Azerbaijan has increased. Guliyev, who chairs the Council of State Support to NGOs, said he does not expect a strategic partnership agreement to be signed in Riga but said: "Even so, the summit this week offers a timely opportunity for the EU to recognize and also appreciate the geo-political importance of Azerbaijan.”

“The main thing is that both sides realize the need for expansion of bilateral co-operation, including economic and trade relations," added Guliyev.  "We very much value our relationship with the EU and it will be interesting to hear more about the EU proposals for a partnership agreement. Whatever they are they must meet the interests of Azerbaijan as well as the EU. We want to see evidence that the EU continues to seek closer economic and trade integration with Azerbaijan."

The EU is Azerbaijan's main trading partner, accounting for around 42.4% of Azerbaijan's total trade. The bloc continues to be Azerbaijan's biggest export and import market with respective 48.3% and 27.7% share in total Azerbaijan's exports and imports. The Riga summit seeks to extend co-operation through EU programmes, such as Erasmus and Horizon 2020 while visa facilitation for EaP partners’ citizens, and energy, especially with the gas and oil producing Azerbaijan, will be an important part of the talks. The summit attendees are also expected to draft a resolution in support of the "territorial integrity" of Ukraine in light of its ongoing conflict with Russia-backed separatists and efforts for a peaceful settlement of unresolved conflicts in the region, including between Armenia and Azerbaijan, will be high on the summit’s agenda. On this, Guliyev, a twice-elected member of the Azerbaijan Parliament, where he has served since 2005, has a "clear cut" message for Brussels, saying: "It is time for an end to the double standards of the EU.”

"The EU constantly accuses Russia of violating the territorial integrity of Ukraine. It imposes sanctions on Moscow for alleged violations but, when it comes to Nagorno-Karabakh, the European Union makes no mention of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. All we hear is silence," said Guliyev, who serves as the deputy chairman of the Committee for Social Issues, Education and Civil Society of the Euronest.

He added: "This sort of double standards and this attitude has got to change."It is not known if representatives from Azerbaijan and Armenia will meet in the Baltic city this week but Guliyev said: "I am hoping that at the Riga summit we will see the EU also uphold the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan as 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory is still under Armenian occupation for more than 25 years.

"If sanctions can be imposed on Russia for violations why not on Armenia for much the same thing? The Armenian aggression is unacceptable so if a resolution is adopted this week I hope that it also mentions Nagorno-Karabakh." There are about 1.2 million refugees and Internally Displaced Persons within Azerbaijan, people who are unable to return to their homes and lands because of the illegal occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions by Armenia's armed forces – in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions.

Guliyev, who is also vice-chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Committee on Political Affairs and Security, said:  "Azerbaijan is an equal member of the Eastern Partnership with the EU and wants to continue cooperation with the bloc but for the Azerbaijani people I have to say that such a policy and such double standards are a big disappointment."

Three countries so far have signed Association Agreements with the EU: Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The summit will assess the progress made by these countries in reforming their economies and administration and will look at the possibilities of strengthening ties with the three others. The creation of a common European economic area will also be discussed with the EaP partners. Despite promises of more engagement from the EU, the first drafts of the final declaration of the summit indicate that the EU is tempted to step back from previous declarations on enlargement perspectives or even "incentive-based approach".

European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Commissioner Johannes Hahn has emphasized the need to think about a new format of cooperation with Eastern Partnership countries, which are no longer willing to build tight relations with the EU.

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