EU again violating its own values in relations with Azerbaijan, says OC Media
EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas’s recent visit to Baku reveals that the EU continues to struggle in challenging the cynical approaches of the US, Russia, and China with a principled, value-based foreign policy. Instead, the EU has once again compromised its own values, descending from the moral high ground it often claims, OC Media reports.
As noted, Azerbaijan, under the dynastic rule of Ilham Aliyev since 2003, is among the continent’s worst violators of human rights and press freedoms. Currently, 24 journalists are arbitrarily detained — the highest number since Aliyev’s ascent to power — including the editors-in-chief of two acclaimed dissident media, Sevinj Vagifgizi of Abzas Media and Aynur Ganbarova of Meydan TV.
Official EU communications from Kallas’s visit highlight that ‘the EU is Azerbaijan’s largest trading partner and biggest investor’ — a fact that would suggest that it is Azerbaijan who should align with EU values for the sake of realpolitik. Yet, it is the other way around.
The article notes economically, this partnership is mutually beneficial but also asymmetrical.
While proponents of the relationship in Europe point to Azerbaijan’s role as a transit route for Central Asian oil and gas, and Italy, Greece, and Bulgaria admittedly rely on Azerbaijani gas, Azerbaijan itself only accounts for roughly 3% of the EU’s total gas imports. For Azerbaijan, hydrocarbons constitute approximately 90% of export earnings and are the lifeblood of the regime’s stability. Critics argue that Europe is effectively substituting one autocratic supplier with another, but EU leaders justify it as a necessary compromise for energy security and a hedge against Russian energy blackmail.
The EU states this is ‘a relationship to grow based on mutual respect’, indicating a troubling respect for Azerbaijan’s red lines, particularly its freedom to ruthlessly suppress the values the EU professes to hold dear.
