Orkhan Sattarov, director of the European Bureau of Vestnik Kavkaza
As we approach the European Games in Azerbaijan, with less than a month before it starts, the activity of the traditional critics of the Azerbaijani government in the West has been steadily increasing. In particular in Germany, where, as well as in other Western European countries, a whole generation of people disgruntled by Azerbaijani authorities (rightly or not - is another question), who position themselves as political refugees, has settled and overgrown with close contacts in the local "human rights together."
The role of their patrons in the political elite is openly displayed, first of all, by representatives of the opposition party "The Greens", known for their pronounced Eurocentric position. Used by anti-government activists back in 2012 in preparation for the Eurovision competition held in Baku, mechanisms of information pressure on Azerbaijan have restarted. After all, the European game in the understanding of political strategists is, first and foremost, a good "news reason.’’ Together, lobby groups, some politicians and NGOs in European capitals organize events on issues of human rights in Azerbaijan, critical material about the country is printed in various media.
By the way, this development was expected in view of the large-scale "sweep" that the Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies made in the past year among NGOs, which were financed by some Western political foundations. The fact is that "pro-Western" human rights activists and fighters against corruption in Azerbaijan were themselves involved in financial fraud and engaged in a blatant ‘’grant assumption.’’ Today, during the campaign for their protection, they prefer not to mention this fact. Otherwise, there is a risk of a halo of martyrdom, which can be created around thieving representatives of "civil society" – a select caste, which is working with Western organizations of people with businessmen, but not human rights defenders.
Today, when the law enforcement agencies of Azerbaijan arrested several dozen influential businessmen close to the government for money received by the International Bank of Azerbaijan in loans of tens and hundreds of millions of dollars, one can hardly accuse Baku of a "selective" approach to human rights activists and opposition figures who are close to the authorities.
At the same time, the pragmatically oriented government of Germany prefers to conduct a human rights dialogue with Baku in a constructive manner.
Firstly, Berlin realizes that they do not have effective levers of pressure on Azerbaijan, which does not tend towards the EU or NATO, and is independent of financial assistance from Brussels. The key role of Azerbaijan in the Southern Gas Corridor project, in turn, further increases the importance of Azerbaijan in Germany, which has the decisive voice in the European Union and is shaping its energy agenda.
Secondly, a working visit by Ilham Aliyev to Berlin, held in January this year, where he met with Chancellor Angela Merkel, showed that the topic of human rights has to be broached mildly, and it is not a priority in relations between the two countries. Even German President Joachim Gauck, well-known for his stringent requirements with respect to other democratic states, was not thinking about criticizing Baku in a recent congratulatory message to President Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of Azerbaijan's Republic Day, which touched upon the European game. Gauck said that Azerbaijan, with the first European Games starting in a few weeks, will be in the spotlight. "In this regard, I welcome the continuation of reforms and the appreciation which you have for European values. Germany, as a reliable partner of Azerbaijan, has always supported and will support the country in this way. In this regard, the continuation of an open dialogue is of great importance," the message reads. Finally, in contrast to the exposed human rights populism and even deputies of the ruling coalition, German government officials and experts are informed about the real situation in the country by several independent sources and are in constant dialogue with their Azerbaijani counterparts.
Obviously, this approach by the German government cannot satisfy the critics of the Baku government, who do not forget its close involvement in the anti-Russian integration initiatives (this can be attributed to the actual refusal of Baku to sign an association agreement with the EU), and the unceremonious treatment with caught Western (or rather - US) agents of influence. The parliamentary opposition faction in the Bundestag 'The Greens/Alliance 90', by drawing up an official parliamentary inquiry, decided to force the Berlin government to comment on individual cases in the "series of reprisals" against civil society in Azerbaijan (the document can be found here: http: // dipbt.bundestag.de/dip21/btd/18/047/1804796.pdf). It is noteworthy that the 'Greens' strongly and unconditionally support the Ukrainian and Moldovan governments as well as Georgia (and, in times of Saakashvili's radical anti-Russian attitude, support for it was even hotter), and they do not speak about human rights issues in these countries, as a rule. Moreover, one of the drafters of the request is a notorious deputy from the 'Greens', Marieluise Beck, serving US interests, and about whom the German blogosphere late last year published a revealing article (VK wrote in detail about the case in the article 'German blogger exposes MP from Greens: Marieluise Beck serves American interests').
Under German law, the German government must respond to the "small" parliamentary question (Kleine Anfrage) of the 'Greens' in two weeks. Thus, the response of the government of Germany to the tricky questions of "Marieluise Beck & Co." should be, in theory, ready exactly on the eve of the European Games. The German government, realizing the provocatively motivated request, is not eager to publicly "chastise" Azerbaijan to meet the ambitions and lobbying order of several 'Green' deputies. Since the parliamentary inquiry of the 'Greens' is quite extensive and includes more than 60 separate issues, the German government announced that it can respond to them only by 30 June – that is, intentionally or accidentally, only two days after the finish, which is important for the image of the European Games in Azerbaijan. In response to this, from the pages of publications Tagesspiegel, whose author is actively sympathetic to Azerbaijani human rights 'coterie', journalist Claudia von Salza, showered reproaches and accusations on the German government.
One thing is clear: in fighting for the revival of Atlanticism in Europe, deputies from the Greens, requiring, by the way, the German government's hard-confrontational course in relations with Russia, is today once again up in arms against Azerbaijan, despite its importance in ensuring the energy security of EU. Caspian gas should reach Europe in 2019, Baku does not preclude this, but on the contrary, is an active participant in the process. But if it's not in the economy, then what? The question is not whether to try to punish Baku for its apparent unwillingness on the example of its neighbors to embark on anti-Russian political adventures. Especially when the improvement of Azerbaijani-Russian relations over the past two years could not go unnoticed by the Greens and their overseas curators. A secondary goal of the observed share is to spoil the climate in relations between the governments of Germany and Azerbaijan on the eve of another prestigious event. The ultimate aim of the planned "anti-Azerbaijani" campaign is to achieve total or partial discrediting in Germany and the EU of the Azerbaijani government's too independent and intractable policies, increasing de facto state appropriations to finance "civic society" in Azerbaijan (read: undermining the internal political situation in the republic), limiting the country's sovereignty and forcing an impact on its internal and external policies. Strong Azerbaijan is capable of defending its own national interests, which satisfies neither the West nor the East. But if one day Azerbaijan will rise in line with the dismemberment and stand in a posture of asylum to the Western financial institutions of Ukraine and Georgia, sacrificed for its stability and relations with Russia for the sake of ephemeral European perspective, the goal can be considered completed. Indeed, in this case, on Russia's southern flank there will be another government hostile to it.
At the national level in Germany, obviously, the undesirability of such a scenario for the objective interests of the country is understood. After 70 years of post-war shock Germany, does not hide its ambition to transform into the European continental power. But will it be successful in doing so? The Russian-Georgian conflict of 2008 erupted after a supposed 'misinterpretation of signals from the United States' by Mikheil Saakashvili (in other words, Washington deliberately or accidentally stimulated the Georgian president at the beginning of the military operation), burying the foreign policy initiative of the German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on creating a platform of stability and security in the South Caucasus, which could be the beginning of an articulated German policy of cooperation with Russia.
The current Ukrainian crisis, besides the fact that Ukraine has turned into another financial hole for European taxpayers, is a heavy blow to Germany's strategically important relations with Russia, undermining the economic development of each of the parties. Are these crises in the post-national interests of Germany? Obviously not. One of the architects of US foreign policy, Zbigniew Brzezinski, does not cease warning the US policymakers that the creation of a dominant antagonistic Eurasian power is detrimental to the status of the US as the only world power. For this purpose, according to the legendary politician, they need to identify dynamic Eurasian states that have the ability to cause a potentially important shift in the international distribution of power and solve the basic foreign policy goals of their elites.
These are, in particular, technologically and economically developed Germany and resource-rich nuclear Russia. As you can see, the Americans have their fingers on the pulse of Eurasia, and it is not in their interests to strengthen Russia and Germany and, especially, the emergence of a German-Russian alliance. By pushing the two powers in Ukraine, while continuing actively to promote the idea of Atlanticism in Europe, the United States sought to preserve its own geo-strategic advantages. The post-Soviet countries, including Azerbaijan, are only one element of a mosaic, and the information campaign conducted against it by the pro-American Green party must be considered in the overall geopolitical context.
