EU Chief Ursula von der Leyen with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan in Baku on Jul. 1
Ahead of her much-trumpeted visit to Yerevan on Thursday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday visited Baku and announced a €20 million ($22.7 million) program to promote peace in the South Caucasus region.
The “peace-fostering program” was announced by von der Leyen at a joint press conference in Baku following talks with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan. She said they seek to “help peace take root in the region, to make the benefits of peace visible in people’s everyday lives, those who live in border regions.”
“We will invest in better healthcare, for example with the procurement of ambulances. We will also focus on safety through demining,” von der Leyen said, adding that they will also invest in local economies through rural development and water management, among others, according to the Turkish Anadolou Agence.
Von der Leyen said they want to foster peace through connectivity, and the EU will invest up to €200 million ($227 million) in grants for transport, energy and digital links across the region, with the potential to mobilize up to €2 billion ($2.2 billion) in public and private investment.
She said projects could include railway connection through Azerbaijan’s autonomous Nakhchivan region or developing the Port of Baku.
She also proposed launching the EU-Azerbaijan Connectivity Partnership, taking into account the South Caucasus nation’s geopolitical position and its growing strategic importance.
“This goes hand and hand together with a High-Level Connectivity Dialogue, covering transport, energy and digital connectivity. We will also work on the organisation of a Regional Connectivity Investment Conference, preferably right here in Baku. And thus bringing together Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia,” von der Leyen said.
She added that the EU sees “enormous potential” to deepen cooperation with Baku on renewables, electricity interconnections and regional energy networks, welcoming Azerbaijan’s plans to build a green energy corridor to link the country with the 27-member-bloc.
Aliyev, for his part, said the presence of an “unprecedented dynamism” in the relationship between Azerbaijan and the EU, arguing it reflects both sides’ will to intensify their cooperation and strengthen their partnership.
Aliyev said he and von der Leyen’s delegation discussed a “very impressive” agenda, including energy cooperation, and that Azerbaijan is the EU’s main trading partner in the South Caucasus, with 70{b9e265b8c62139b529925cf6e4e49774b738647adb08d2567854b151c22ce596} of the bloc’s regional trade taking place with Baku.
He recalled that Azerbaijan and the EU signed a strategic partnership in the energy sector in 2022, adding that Baku’s natural gas exports to EU member states increased by almost 65 percent.
Aliyev said connectivity, renewables and regional security, including the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, were topics discussed in their meetings.
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