BAKU, FEB 21 — Azerbaijan pursued quite balanced foreign policy, in particular in Europe, Russian political analyst Georgy Bovt told.
Bovt was commenting on the state visit by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to Italy.
Baku’s foreign policy is aimed at strengthening Azerbaijan’s position in Europe, the political analyst noted.
“This can bring certain dividends to Azerbaijan not only in the energy market, but also as part of cooperation with the EU in a number of areas,” Bovt said.
In addition, the EU confidence in Azerbaijan has increased significantly in recent years, the analyst added.
“Compared to the end of the 90s, when Azerbaijan was just starting to enter big European energy market, today it looks like an increasingly profitable partner that inspires great confidence,” Bovt noted. “If in the 90s there were quite a lot of skeptical forecasts and assessments about the energy projects that Azerbaijan implements, now we can say with confidence that almost all of them are successful and bring great benefits to Azerbaijan, as well as contribute to the diversification of the European energy market.”
The expert added that other countries of the region also benefit from energy projects being implemented by Azerbaijan.
“If we look what a leap in economic development Azerbaijan has recently made, it becomes obvious that this has a positive effect on the development of the entire region as well,” Bovt said. “For example, the flow of Azerbaijani tourists to Georgia suggests that Georgia also receives indirect dividends from Azerbaijan’s economic success. As for Armenia, as long as the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains unresolved, Armenia will remain outside all the projects being implemented by Azerbaijan.”
On Feb. 19, President Ilham Aliyev paid a state visit to Italy, and on Feb. 20, the head of state held a number of official meetings in Rome.
On the same day, after the meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and President of the Italian Council of Ministers Giuseppe Conte in an expanded format, a ceremony of Azerbaijani-Italian documents exchange was held.
Azerbaijan and Italy signed 17 documents aimed at expanding bilateral cooperation in various fields. In particular, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and President of the Italian Council of Ministers Giuseppe Conte signed the Joint Declaration on Strengthening Multidimensional Strategic Partnership between Azerbaijan and Italy.
