00:00Hello and welcome to Eurasia Talks from Davos, and I'm delighted to be joined today by Azerbaijan's president, Mr. Ilham Elieff.
00:12Thank 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 reassessment of the existing international system.
00:25Now, you've warned about this shift before. How does your country engage with this changing world order?
00:32And what is your message to world leaders?
00:35Actually, as you mentioned, we've been facing a situation when international law norms were not obligatory for all the actors of international community.
00:48Therefore, our strategic goal was to achieve results based on our national interest and with all respect to international law, do what we thought was right.
01:03And everything what we've done, whether it's political development or restoration of our sovereignty and territorial integrity,
01:11was in line with international law and common values.
01:17So 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.
01:32We can see it in different parts of the world.
01:35Therefore, it once again signals that every country should base their strategy and policy on their potential,
01:45establish good relations with as many countries as possible, first in your region and second on a global scale.
01:53Amid 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.
02:05How do you assess the current balance between risk and opportunity in the region?
02:11Today, South Caucasus also enters a new stage of development.
02:17We live in peace only for five, six months.
02:20We are learning to do it.
02:22We never lived in peace in all our independent history.
02:25And it's a special feeling.
02:28And of course, it's a great opportunity.
02:31Today, the relationship between Armenia and Azerbaijan are already evolving into a cooperation.
02:41We lifted all the restrictions on cargo transportation to Armenia.
02:46Moreover, we started to supply critical commodities to Armenia,
02:51primarily oil products, which the country is largely dependent on.
02:56And it's a win-win situation.
02:58So I think that by joint efforts of Armenia and Azerbaijan,
03:04including the civil society,
03:08we will achieve not long-lasting peace, but peace forever in the Caucasus.
03:14This is our goal.
03:15We hope so, yes.
03:16With Iran as your neighbor, I want also to mention,
03:19how is Azerbaijan engaging with the evolving crisis that we are seeing there?
03:24And what is your assessment of its impact of stability across Eurasia,
03:30also including the energy markets?
03:33Every country, including Azerbaijan,
03:37should think about stability around its borders, beyond its borders.
03:43With respect to Azerbaijan, we do not have any potential risks inside the country.
03:50All the potential risks can come from outside.
03:54Therefore, for us, stability in our neighborhood is something which we always think about.
04:00And we've been concerned about some destabilization in Iran.
04:07And for us, stability, predictability, and peace in the region is the biggest asset.
04:14We 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.
04:27With respect to energy market, as you see, today, oil price is stable.
04:34It is at the appropriate level, at least for Azerbaijan.
04:40And it demonstrates that situation in Iran, situation in Venezuela,
04:46and in other parts of the world do not seriously influence the price of oil.
04:53And this is a good sign, because producers and consumers,
04:57they need to know the predictability of the situation in order to plan their future.
05:05So I hope that situation in the Southern Caucasus and around it will not deteriorate.
05:12Where do you feel that the South Caucasus sit in terms of being an emerging force
05:17in the energy sector and moving in towards the EU as well?
05:21With respect to energy sector, Azerbaijan is the only country in the Southern Caucasus
05:27which has energy resources and exports them to other countries of the Southern Caucasus,
05:34import energy resources from Azerbaijan.
05:37Georgia for many years, and now Armenia.
05:42And with respect to Europe and European Union, our energy cooperation is growing.
05:48We already supply natural gas to 16 countries, and 10 of them are members of European Union.
05:58So by this coverage, by geographical coverage of supply of pipeline gas,
06:03Azerbaijan is number one in the world.
06:05We have resources, we have transportation system, modern pipelines.
06:12We have good relations with many European countries.
06:16And for them, it's a way to strengthen the energy security.
06:21For 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.
06:38We stopped reacting.
06:39We 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.
06:57So we actually, for many years, already stopped any cooperation with European parliament,
07:04and also with the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe.
07:10We cooperate with European Commission, and for us, it is enough.
07:14But 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.
07:40So 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.
07:56Thank you.
07:57Thank you.
07:57Thank you.
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