24 May: OSCE chairman aspires to consistent continuation of EU negotiations with South Caucasus countries

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European Political Community Summit opens in Yerevan

European Political Community Summit opens in Yerevan

The 8th Summit of the European Political Community (EPC) opened on Monday morning (4 May) in the Armenian Capital Yerevan. It is held under the slogan "Building the future: unity and stability in Europe". At the start of the meeting the leaders took a "family photo". (See image) The European Political Community (EPC) brings together the Leaders of around 50 European partners on an equal footing, in a spirit of unity, and with a shared purpose. It provides a political platform to: 1. foster political dialogue and cooperation to address issues of common interest 2. strengthen the security, stability and prosperity of the European continent The EPC offers a space for European Leaders to engage, exchange and enhance cooperation. It does not replace any existing organisation, structure or process. The European Political Community has met seven times since 2022, and convenes for the 8th time in Yerevan on the 4th of May 2026. European leaders arrived in Yerevan from all across Europe on 3 May to participate in the summit, making this the largest gathering of European leaders in the South Caucasus ever. Among those is Yerevan is French President, Emanuel Macron, who on Sunday evening, accompanied by Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan, went on a walk on the streets of Yerevan. Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, is also in Yerevan. He is the first non-European leader to participate in an EPC summit. There was a lot of speculation regarding Azerbaijan's participation. It is now understood that president Ilham Aliyev will participate in the summit by video link. commonspace.eu special correspondent at the summit, Alex Verge, will file a report on the summit conclusions at the end of the meeting.

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Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

Today, commonspace.eu starts a new regular weekly series. THURSDAY INTERVIEW, conducted by Lauri Nikulainen, will host  persons who are thinkers, opinion shapers, and implementors in their countries and spheres. We start the series with an interview with Murad Muradov, a leading person in Azerbaijan's think tank community. He is also the first co-chair of the Action Committee for a new Armenian-Azerbaijani Dialogue. Last September he made history by being the first Azerbaijani civil society activist to visit Armenia after the 44 day war, and the start of the peace process. Speaking about this visit Murad Muradov said: "My experience was largely positive. My negative expectations luckily didn’t play out. The discussions were respectful, the panel format bringing together experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey was particularly valuable during the NATO Rose-Roth Seminar in Yerevan, and media coverage, while varied in tone, remained largely constructive. Some media outlets though attempted to represent me as more of a government mouthpiece than an independent expert, which was totally misleading.  Overall, I see these initiatives as important steps in rebuilding trust and normalising professional engagement. The fact that soon a larger Azerbaijani civil society visits to Armenia followed, reinforces the sense that this process is moving in the right direction." (click the image to read the interview in full)