The common interests of good neighborliness is more important for the Caspian states than differences in economic interests, the deputy head of the Editorial Council of Vestnik Kavkaza, the director general of the Institute for Caspian Cooperation, Sergey Micheyev, said during a Moscow-Baku-Astana video conference.
The expert added that the geopolitical goals of the 'Caspian Five' are very close now. "The solution of individual problems of the Caspian Sea is likely to have a synergistic effect and will help to solve more complex issues. Searches for flexible compromises and common interests have always been and will be more effective than searches for differences. Yes, we have different economic interests, but you shouldn't focus only on that: the interests of good neighborliness are more important than a race for prices and sales markets. Iran's opportunistic economic interest coincides with other countries of the Caspian region, and it's happy to sell products to the West, if they let it. Yes, we have competition, but you cannot put geopolitical interests on a par with competition. Western countries, together, can impose their policy on other countries. And we, together, will be able to resist it," Mikheyev said.
An expert of the Center for Central Asian and Caucasus Studies of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the RAS, Stanislav Pritchin, expressed a similar view. "Our artificial competition for markets in Europe helps the EU to artificially divide us. For example, the EU now forms a unified tariff system that can touch Azerbaijan's interests, because as a potential supplier of energy to Europe it will have to follow the terms of the European Union. At present, Azerbaijan is implementing large-scale projects, and its interests are affected by what is happening in Europe at the same time, for example, in Poland. To those periods when supplies from 'Shah Deniz' will be at full capacity, implementation of the project for the production and export of liquefied natural gas in Poland will be completed. Yes, the 'Caspian Five' have fifferences over the division of the Caspian Sea, but there are also developments in terms of cooperation in the fields of ecology, security and the economy," Pritchin said.
The head of the Centre for Caspian Scientific Research, Chingiz Ismailov, also spoke about the importance of common interests. "Every country sees other competitors in the European space, each seeks to find a market for their products. However, mutual investments are intended to show that all countries want cooperation. It is necessary to unite our country into one unit, and actively develop the infrastructure," Ismailov pointed out.
The head of the Department of International Law and International Relations of the Kazakh Humanitarian Law University, Miras Daulenov, in his turn, said that without the search for a common language the 'Caspian Five' will not be able to answer the key questions of the Caspian Sea. "Now we are starting to move forward in the definition of the legal status of the Caspian Sea, and we need to actively address side problems to find a solution to the main one. Of course, we should not think that the forum in Astana will be able to settle all the issues, but we need to find a common denominator for all the states of the Caspian Sea. No state should pull the blanket over itself," Daulenov warned.
Upon completion of the video conference, Sergei Mikheyev, commenting on the initiative by the head of Dagestan, Ramazan Abdulatipov, to hold next year's International Caspian Forum, said that "the five-sided format of discussing Caspian issues happen very rarely. Probably Makhachkala would have become a permanent format, another thing is that Dagestan will face the same difficulties: it's rather difficult to collect five full delegations from all the countries on any issue. If Abdulatipov succeeds, it will be great," he said.
