The visit of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, is to acquaint her with the new structure in the EU, formed 2 years ago, and discuss details of relations between the EU and states of the region. This includes energy issues and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mubariz Ahmedoglu, Director of the Center for Political Innovations and Technologies, told Vestnik Kavkaza.
The expert says that Ashton explained the reasons for dragging out EU-Azerbaijani talks on simplification of the visa regime. The EU and Georgia ended the talks long ago. The talks with Armenia ended about a week ago, the expert goes on. But the negotiation process with Azerbaijan has hardly started, Ahmedoglu says.
Ashton reconfirmed the willingness of the EU to purchase Azerbaijani gas. Azerbaijan will probably not give guarantees until the EU makes its final decisions.
The EU commissioner also has plans to replace Bernard Fassier, a French co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. France wants to take everything under control in the new EU structure. Fassier’s dismissal may give an impulse to a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Ahmedoglu added that the EU has a project prepared for development of civil society and development of dialogue with various layers of society. The role of the EU in forming a dialogue between the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of Nagorno-Karabakh is great, the expert concludes.
