00:00Hello and welcome to Eurasia Talks from Davos, and I'm delighted to be joined today by Azerbaijan's
00:09president, Mr. Ilham Elieff. Thank you so much for joining us today. It's wonderful to see you.
00:16As you join world leaders here in Davos, we are at this moment witnessing a fundamental
00:21reassessment of the existing international system. Now, you've warned about this shift before.
00:28How does your country engage with this changing world order? And what is your message to world
00:34leaders? Well, actually, as you mentioned, we've been facing a situation when international law
00:41norms were not obligatory for all the actors of international community. Therefore, our strategic
00:50goal was to achieve results based on our national interest and with all respect to international
01:00law do what we thought was right. And everything what we've done, whether it's political development
01:07or restoration of our sovereignty and territorial integrity, was in line with international law
01:14and common values. So today, as you mentioned, international relations are entering the new era,
01:23era where it is not the rule of law, but the rule of strength is ruling the situation. We can see it in
01:33different parts of the world. Therefore, it once again signals that every country should base their
01:41strategy and policy on their potential, establish good relations with as many countries as possible,
01:48first in your region and second on a global scale.
01:52Amid the historic peace deal in Armenia, the South Caucasus is evolving fast in a global context,
01:59you know, after decades of competing interests, influences and shifting alliances. How do you assess
02:05the current balance between risk and opportunity in the region?
02:11Today, Southern Caucasus also enters a new stage of development. We live in peace only for five,
02:19six months. We are learning to do it. We are learning to do it. We never lived in peace in all our
02:24independent history. And it's a special feeling. And of course, it's a great opportunity. Today,
02:31relationship between Armenia and Azerbaijan are already evolving into a cooperation.
02:41Yeah.
02:41We lifted all the restrictions on cargo transportation to Armenia. Moreover, we started to supply critical
02:49commodities to Armenia, primarily oil products, which the country is largely dependent on.
02:56And it's a win-win situation. So I think that by joint efforts of Armenia and Azerbaijan, including the
03:05civil society, we will achieve not long lasting peace, but peace forever in the Caucasus. This is
03:14our goal.
03:15We hope so. Yes. With Iran as your neighbor, I want also mention, how is Azerbaijan engaging with the
03:22evolving crisis that we are seeing there? And what is your assessment of its impact of stability
03:29across Eurasia, also including the energy markets?
03:33Every country, including Azerbaijan, should think about stability around its borders, beyond its borders.
03:43With respect to Azerbaijan, we do not have any potential risks inside the country. All the potential risks
03:52can come from outside. Therefore, for us, stability in our neighborhood is something which we always think
04:00about. And we've been concerned about some destabilization in Iran. And for us, stability, predictability and peace
04:11in the region is the biggest asset. We suffered from occupation, from war, from losing thousands of victims.
04:20And today, stability and security for every country is the only way to succeed. With respect to energy market,
04:30as you see today, oil price is stable. It is at the appropriate level, at least for Azerbaijan. And it demonstrates
04:41that the situation in Iran, the situation in Venezuela and in other parts of the world do not seriously influence
04:51the price of oil. And this is a good sign because producers and consumers, they need to know the predictability
05:01of the situation in order to plan their future. So I hope that situation in the Southern Caucasus and around it
05:09will not deteriorate. Where do you feel that the South Caucasus sits in terms of being an emerging force
05:17in the energy sector and moving in towards the EU as well?
05:22With respect to energy sector, Azerbaijan is the only country in the Southern Caucasus which has energy resources
05:28and exports them to other countries of the Southern Caucasus, import energy resources from Azerbaijan.
05:37Azerbaijan, Georgia for many years and now Armenia. And with respect to Europe and European Union,
05:45our energy cooperation is growing. We already supply natural gas to 16 countries and 10 of them are members of European Union.
05:57So by this coverage, by geographical coverage of supply of pipeline gas, Azerbaijan is number one in the world.
06:05We have resources, we have transportation system, modern pipelines. We have good relations with many European countries.
06:16And for them, it's a way to strengthen the energy security. For us, it's opportunity to sell our resources on the premium market.
06:27How do you feel and how do you react to this constant criticism of Azerbaijan from the EU parliament?
06:34Well, we do not react any longer. We stopped reacting. We did react in the past.
06:41But, of course, it's so obvious that this bias situation to Azerbaijan is generated by special lobbying groups,
06:50by special forces which cannot digest Azerbaijan's independent policy.
06:58So we actually, for many years, already stopped any cooperation with European Parliament
07:04and also with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
07:09We cooperate with the European Commission. And for us, it is enough.
07:15But I think the European Parliament puts itself in a very awkward situation,
07:20accusing us of what we have never done, including so-called our aggressive position towards Armenia,
07:28while Armenia itself appreciates the relationship with Azerbaijan.
07:34And last August, the peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan was initialed in the White House.
07:41So I hope that members of the European Parliament will find the courage
07:46to reconsider their unfair policy towards Azerbaijan.
07:51Mr. President, always a pleasure talking to you.
07:53Thank you for joining us on Euronews this morning.
07:55Thank you for your invitation.
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