Connectivity

After years of bickering, during which relations reached  "diplomatic lows", Azerbaijan and the European Union appear to have found a common language on how to build relations between them. The president of the European Commission on Wednesday (1 July) visited Baku for meetings with president Ilham Aliyev.. In a key speech, addressing president Aliyev, president Van der Leyen outlined the position of the European Union on various asspects of EU-Azerbaijan relations. "I am here today to deepen a partnership that matters greatly to the European Union. And one that has real momentum, as the President just described. But first, let me turn to the most important development in this region in decades. Peace. Let me congratulate you on initiating an historic peace agreement with Armenia. You showed personal leadership in promoting peace and cooperation across the region. And it is creating new opportunities for stability, trust and shared prosperity. The EU strongly supports this process. And we will continue to do so. Together, we can turn peace on paper into peace in practice. That is why we are working here today together." President Aliyev replied in kind: This is unprecedented dynamism in our relationship, which reflects the mutual will of both sides to intensify our cooperation and to strengthen our partnership. We highly value the relationship with the European Commission, and today, with Madame President and the delegations, we broadly discussed a very impressive agenda. The European Union is Azerbaijan's main trading partner. More than 40% of our trade is with the member states, and for the European Union, Azerbaijan is the main trading partner in the South Caucasus. Almost 70% of trade in the South Caucasus is trade with Azerbaijan." From what Aliyev and Van der Leyen said on 1 July, relations between the two is entering a new, positive, phase. (click picture to read a full report).

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited Brussels this week, closing major deals in the process, worth around 462 million USD or 407 million EUR in total. The four deals making up this package were unveiled at the “Strengthening EU-Kazakhstan Connectivity: Perspectives and Strategic Potential of the Middle Corridor” business forum, and as the name of the forum already indicates, all four of them revolve around transport and Eurasian connectivity. The conference was organised by Kazakhstan’s national railway operator, bringing together representatives of the European Commission, European Parliament, and stakeholders from industry, in particular European transport and logistics companies. More information can be found in our article written on the event, which has been published on commonspace.eu. However, the transport deals only turned out to be the start of business deals signed during Tokayev’s Brussels visit. The Kazakh president would go on to meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa. Their joint statement following the meeting unsurprisingly focused on connectivity, energy security and resilient supply chains. Negotiators of the two parties also finished talks on a visa agreement simplifying short stays in the EU for Kazakh citizens. The agreement itself is not yet in force and only covers the process for Kazakh citizens to apply for a short-stay EU visa. A readmission agreement was also reached to facilitate the enforcement of the EU’s migration rules. Interestingly, the EU Commission’s press release made sure to cite “significant progress and good cooperation with Kazakhstan to prevent the circumvention of EU sanctions” as the reason for the discussions having taken place and ultimately for these agreements being reached, clearly making sure to highlight Kazakhstan’s cooperative conduct on sanctions. While this statement was not covered by most media outlets, the fact that the Commission’s press service made sure to include it should not be overlooked. The statement serves as a clear signal to relevant policymakers, who unlike the average reader, will be keenly aware of its inclusion and therefore of the Commission’s implied overarching message that those who play along with its sanctions regime will be rewarded with opportunities like these negotiations and potentially further lucrative prospects with the large economic bloc. (To read the full briefing, click on the image above)