The Ambassador-at-Large for the Eastern Partnership at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Juris Poikans, said that Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus will be given a special offer at the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga. He reminded that Georgia and Ukraine, striving for a visa-free regime, will be given EU support at the summit. Professor Fikret Sadykhov of the Western University said that the special offer was necessitated by the reluctance of Azerbaijan to sign the Association Agreement of the EU. Azerbaijan had signed documents on simplification of the visa regime, readmission and strategic cooperation, the analyst noted. In his opinion, the EU may offer energy and humanitarian projects and realization of existing agreements.
Aydyn Mirzazadeh, a member of the Azerbaijani parliament, a political analyst, hailed the individual approach offered to Azerbaijan within the framework of the Eastern Partnership. The expert emphasized the importance of keeping to international legal norms, territorial integrity, independence. Azerbaijan will not pursue a political course of an organization against its national interests or good-neighbourly relations.
Juris Poikans expects Azerbaijan to make reciprocal offers to cooperate. Fikret Sadykhov pointed out energy security, construction of the TAP and the TANAP gas pipelines, humanitarian cooperation, cultural exchange and simplification of the visa regime as the fields for intensive cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU.
