(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Elnur Enveroglu
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The 4th European Political Community summit is being held in
Oxford, near London, and what is most important is Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev's visit to the UK to attend the event.
President Ilham Aliyev is attending the summit at the invitation of
Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland. During the summit, it was planned to
hold a meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to discuss the peace agenda
at the proposal of the host country.
Armenia's refusal to attend the meeting reflects its intention
to withdraw from dialogue and advance the peace agenda
The United Kingdom, as the host of the European Political
Community, proposed holding a meeting between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, suggesting it follow the format of the meeting between
the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister
of Armenia at the Munich Security Conference. This was told by
Hikmat Hajiyev, the Head of the Department of Foreign Policy
Affairs of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan, to local
journalists following Pashinyan's refusal to attend the
meeting.
Hajiyev recalled German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's attendance at
the beginning of the meeting at Munich Security Conference and said
that the meeting continued in a bilateral format between Azerbaijan
and Armenia. So this time, the UK, as the host, proposed a meeting
in the same format.
According to the Azerbaijani official, Armenia's refusal to
attend this meeting is a reflection of its intention to withdraw
from dialogue and advance the peace agenda.
"While Armenia talks about peace on various platforms, its
refusal to participate in a meeting that serves to advance the
peace agenda is unacceptable. The international community should
assess whether Armenia is actually rejecting opportunities for
dialogue rather than advancing them. We highly appreciate the UK's
initiative for peace from our side," H.Hajiyev said.
If we take a closer look at the issue, it is impossible to find
any reason or need for Armenia to avoid the meeting. Before that,
for example, the meetings of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan
and Armenia at the most recent Washington summit reflected that the
peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan would lead to positive
results. Armenia's rejection of Great Britain's offer and refusal
to meet with the Azerbaijani side only reflects Armenia's
non-serious and reluctant approach to the peace issue once
again.
As mentioned, President Ilham Aliyev's visit to the United
Kingdom was multifaceted. Thus, the head of state met with the
Prime Minister of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Luc Frieden. The
Prime Minister of Luxembourg once again emphasised the importance
of obtaining more information about Azerbaijan and the region and
the stability of the region for his country. He pointed out that
Luxembourg's regional policy is balanced.
In addition, Azerbaijan and Luxembourg exchanged views on issues
of cooperation in high technologies, healthcare, investments,
transportation, and other fields.
The importance of Azerbaijan hosting COP29 was emphasised at the
meeting. The Prime Minister of Luxembourg pointed out that he
intends to participate in this event.
During his participation in the summit, President Ilham Aliyev
also had talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Swiss
President Viola Amher.
Azerbaijan's participation in the European Political Community
summit at the invitation of Great Britain has another historical
and strategic significance. Because one of the main directions in
Azerbaijan's successful multifaceted foreign policy is relations
with Great Britain. As mentioned, relations between Great Britain
and Azerbaijan are of historical and strategic importance. The
modern history of relations between the two countries dates back to
the early 1990s. Great Britain was one of the first Western
countries to recognise the restoration of Azerbaijan's
independence. The United Kingdom recognised the independence of
Azerbaijan on December 31, 1991. Diplomatic relations between our
countries were established on March 11, 1992. So far, many
successful achievements have been made in terms of expanding
relations between the two countries, and now Azerbaijan-UK
relations have reached the highest level of development.
Previous meeting in Spain's Granada
It should be recalled that the 3rd EPC meeting was held in
Granada, Spain, on October 5 of last year. Thus, the Alhambra
hosted the Royal reception and dinner of the 3rd EPC summit, where
the date and venue for the summit were announced in February
2023.
So, before talking about the event in details, let's review the
past year.
It should be noted that the meeting held in Granada on October
5, 2023, was held without the participation of Azerbaijan. At that
time, President Ilham Aliyev openly refused to attend the
summit.
What was the reason for Azerbaijan's refusal to attend
the 3rd meeting?
In general, 2023 can be considered the most decisive period in
the political history of Azerbaijan. On September 19 of last year,
local anti-terrorist operations conducted by the Azerbaijani army
against Armenian separatism became the object of wide discussion in
Western circles. Many international organizations and even members
of the European Union parliament voted on the issue and proposed
boycott campaigns and even sanctions measures against Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan, which tried to clear its sovereign territories from the
invading Armenian separatism, was subjected to anti-Azerbaijani
slogans and pressures carried out with the active participation of
France at that time.
The 3rd EPC summit was the period when Yerevan relied mostly on
official Paris and its“staunch” political partners in the European
Union. The ICRC operating in Garabagh, the European Mission group
monitoring our territories with binoculars on the borders of
Armenia and Azerbaijan, and other organizations were looking for an
opportunity to put pressure on Azerbaijan. It was evident from the
beginning that Azerbaijan's meeting with Armenia would be insincere
and non-objective among the political group that is poised against
Azerbaijan, takes a biased and extremely pro-Armenian position.
Currently, the visit of President Ilham Aliyev to participate in
the event reflects the changing geopolitical and geostrategic
realities in the region. Against the background of the steps taken
towards peace, the meeting of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinyan and President Ilham Aliyev is now focused on a completely
different issue - peace and peace negotiations again.
Although the main topic of the EPC summit is the issue of
illegal immigration, this time the ongoing Ukraine-Russia crisis
will be the main topic of discussion at the event. The meeting
between the President of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of
Armenia and the joint participation of representatives from
European countries in the meeting increase the hopes that the peace
agreement between the two countries will be signed soon. The
successful policy of Azerbaijan in the last ten months has already
radically changed the attitude towards Azerbaijan among the
countries of the European Union and even in the entire Western
society.
The political conundrum and internal problems in France have
already weakened the influence of the previous Yerevan-Paris union.
Politicians working "with determination" in favour of Armenia in
the European Union recognise Azerbaijan's unchanging position and
reckon with its political will.
The European Political Community (EPC), which includes EU and
non-EU countries, is holding its 4th summit in the UK on Thursday
to discuss Ukraine, energy, democracy protection, and irregular
migration.
Heads of state or government from about 45 European countries
are attending the summit in Oxford, near London, the capital of
England.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with heads of state and
participants who were attending the summit.
The summit will be Starmer's first international meeting since
assuming office on July 6. King Charles III will also host a
reception for summit participants.
- 1st EPC Summit since 2022
The EPC invited leaders from 27 EU members, as well as Türkiye,
Western Balkan countries (Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, North
Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Norway, Liechtenstein,
Switzerland, UK, Iceland, Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, and
Azerbaijan.
During the meeting, they discussed Russia's attack on Ukraine,
the energy crisis, and the economic situation. Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined via videoconference.
Moreover, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev also held a quadrilateral
meeting with Macron and EU Council President Charles Michel on the
sidelines of the summit. This format was repeated at subsequent
summits.
The summit concluded with the decision to continue the EPC.
- 2nd summit in Moldova
The second EPC meeting in Moldova sent a strong unity message to
Moscow from the EU and Western countries.
It highlighted support for Moldova amid concerns about Russia's
intentions following Ukraine. President Zelenskyy attended in
person, focusing on Ukraine's support, alongside discussions on
peace efforts between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the crisis in
Kosovo.
- 3rd summit in Spain
Under Spain's EU presidency, leaders met in Granada to discuss
"digitalization, energy-ecological transition, and multilateralism
– Europe's political future" in roundtable meetings and bilateral
discussions.
Despite Ukraine and Zelenskyy's support being a key focus,
planned talks between Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders did not
occur due to disagreements over participation requirements, which
led to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev opting not to attend, impacting the summit's
agenda, which focused on Garabagh developments.
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