00:00Hello and welcome to Eurasia Talks from Davos and I'm delighted to be joined today by Azerbaijan's
00:09President Mr. Ilham Eliev. 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? Actually, as you mentioned, we've been facing a situation when international law norms
00:41were 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. Amid the historic peace deal in Armenia,
01:55the South Caucasus is evolving fast in a global context, you know, after decades of competing interests,
02:01influences and shifting alliances. How do you assess the current balance between risk and opportunity
02:09in the region? Today, Southern Caucasus also enters a new stage of development. We live in peace only for
02:19five, six months. We are learning to do it. We never lived in peace in all our independent history.
02:26And it's a special feeling. And of course, it's a great opportunity. Today,
02:33relationship between Armenia and Azerbaijan are already evolving into cooperation. We lifted all the
02:43restrictions on cargo transportation to Armenia. Moreover, we started to supply critical commodities
02:50to Armenia, primarily oil products, which the country is largely dependent on. And it's a win-win situation.
02:58So 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 our 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 across Eurasia,
03:30also including the energy markets? Every country, including Azerbaijan, should think about stability
03:39around its borders, beyond its borders. With respect to Azerbaijan, we do not have any potential risks
03:48inside the country. All the potential risks can come from outside. Therefore, for us, stability in our
03:56in our neighborhood is something which we always think about. And we've been concerned about some
04:04destabilization in Iran. And 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. And today, stability and security
04:24for every country is the only way to succeed. With respect to energy market, as you see today,
04:32oil price is stable. It is at the appropriate level, at least for Azerbaijan. And it demonstrates that
04:42situation in Iran, situation in Venezuela and in other parts of the world do not seriously influence the
04:51the price of oil. And this is a good sign because producers and consumers, they need to know
04:59their predictability of the situation in order to plan their future. So I hope that situation in the
05:07Southern Caucasus and around it will not deteriorate.
05:11Where do you feel that the South Caucasus sits in terms of being an emerging force in the energy
05:18sector and moving in towards the EU as well?
05:21With respect to energy sector, Azerbaijan is the only country in the Southern Caucasus which has energy
05:28resources and exports them to other countries of the Southern Caucasus import energy resources from
05:36Azerbaijan, 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
05:56of European Union. So by this coverage, by geographical coverage of supply of pipeline gas, Azerbaijan is number
06:04one in the world. We have resources, we have transportation system, modern pipelines.
06:12We have good relations with many European countries. And for them, it's a way to strengthen the energy
06:20security. 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
06:49lobbying groups by special lobbying groups by special forces, which cannot digest Azerbaijan's independent
06:57policy. So we actually, for many years, already stopped any cooperation with European parliament
07:05and also with the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe. We cooperate with European Commission,
07:12and for us, it is enough. But I think 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. And last August, the peace deal between
07:37Armenia and Azerbaijan was initialed in the White House. So I hope that members of European parliament
07:44will find the courage to reconsider their unfair policy towards Azerbaijan.
07:50MS. Mr. President, always a pleasure talking to you. Thank you for joining us on Euronews this morning.
07:55Thank you for the invitation. MS. Thank you.
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