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Armenia-Azerbaijan Strategic Expert Platform: Members emphasise the importance of the present moment for the South Caucasus and call for the momentum to be used for the long-term peace and prosperity of the region

Armenia-Azerbaijan Strategic Expert Platform: Members emphasise the importance of the present moment for the South Caucasus and call for the momentum to be used for the long-term peace and prosperity of the region

On 27 February 2026, the members of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Strategic Expert Platform met in Antwerp, Belgium, to assess developments in the South Caucasus following the initialling of a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan on 8 August 2025 at the White House. The members described the present moment as one of major importance for the region and its neighbours, urging leaders and societies alike to use the current momentum to secure long-term peace and prosperity. Established in 2024 with the support of LINKS Europe, the Platform provides a space for direct dialogue and joint analysis between Armenian and Azerbaijani experts. The members also reaffirmed the importance of continued international engagement and expressed strong support for LINKS Europe’s ongoing peacebuilding work in the region. (Click on the image above for the full statement.)
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Thursday Interview: Dr. Anar Valiyev

Thursday Interview: Dr. Anar Valiyev

Dr. Anar Valiyev is an Associate Professor of Urban and Public Affairs at ADA University in Baku, Azerbaijan, with more than 18 years of experience in higher education. His research focuses on public policy, urban development, governance, and post-Soviet regional affairs. He holds a PhD in Urban and Public Affairs from the University of Louisville and has published widely on urbanisation, policy reform, and regional connectivity in the South Caucasus and beyond. This week, commonspace.eu spoke with Dr. Valiyev in Brussels ahead of a roundtable jointly organised by LINKS Europe Foundation and the European Policy Centre. He is taking part in a panel discussion focusing on the Armenia–Azerbaijan peace process, its implications for both countries and the wider region, the involvement of the European Union and the United States, and the challenges that lie ahead. In this interview, he reflects on how his research has evolved over nearly two decades in academia, examines the transformative potential of regional connectivity and trade, discusses the strategic role of energy in Azerbaijan’s foreign policy, and highlights the importance of people-to-people ties through education as a form of long-term soft power. (Read the full interview by clicking on the image above)

Put out more flags

You would have thought that with everything going on in the world the president of the United States would be a busy man.

Yet on Wednesday morning President Donald Trump personally  oversaw the installation of a pair of flagpoles on the White House lawn, one on the south side of the building, the other on the north.

“These are the best poles anywhere in the country or the world,” the president told a group of reporters assembled to witness construction workers putting one of them up.

“It’s a very exciting project to me,” he said.

That he’s taking on such major White House building projects in his second term – after coming under fire for changes to the space during his first – reflects an emboldened Trump impervious to criticism.

Asked what gave him the idea to make the changes, Trump offered a revealing answer.

“I’ve had it for a long time. In the first term I had it, but, you know, you guys were after me. I said I had to focus. I was the hunted. And now I’m the hunter. There’s a big difference,” he said.

Trump spent nearly an hour inspecting and commenting on the flagpole’s installation, despite heightened international tensions awaiting him. And while he refused to directly answer reporters’ shouted questions about whether he would order the U.S. military to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, his presence on the lawn underscored a president operating at his own pace.

Hours later, Trump returned outside, flanked by, among others, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who were at the White House for the swearing in of Charles Kushner as ambassador to France. The president saluted the large American flag, which required five men to hoist up the newly erected pole.

source: commonspace.eu with CNN and agencies

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Armenia-Azerbaijan Strategic Expert Platform: Members emphasise the importance of the present moment for the South Caucasus and call for the momentum to be used for the long-term peace and prosperity of the region

Armenia-Azerbaijan Strategic Expert Platform: Members emphasise the importance of the present moment for the South Caucasus and call for the momentum to be used for the long-term peace and prosperity of the region

On 27 February 2026, the members of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Strategic Expert Platform met in Antwerp, Belgium, to assess developments in the South Caucasus following the initialling of a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan on 8 August 2025 at the White House. The members described the present moment as one of major importance for the region and its neighbours, urging leaders and societies alike to use the current momentum to secure long-term peace and prosperity. Established in 2024 with the support of LINKS Europe, the Platform provides a space for direct dialogue and joint analysis between Armenian and Azerbaijani experts. The members also reaffirmed the importance of continued international engagement and expressed strong support for LINKS Europe’s ongoing peacebuilding work in the region. (Click on the image above for the full statement.)

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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)