Diplomacy

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).