Baku-Berlin: the fall of mistrust wall
Following President Aliyev's visit to Germany

ANALYTICS  16 March 2023 - 15:14

President Ilham Aliyev's working visit to Germany can be described in two words - "clarity and energy". Clarity is one of the main qualities of the Azerbaijani foreign policy and is the core of the German mentality. In the given context, the notion of "energy" in general has all shades of meaning. Not the least of which is economic.

Azerbaijan is an important energy supplier to Europe. Germany is an importer of Azerbaijani oil. Furthermore, Germany's Uniper is a buyer of Azerbaijani gas, supplied to Europe. At the same time, Germany is investing in the renewable energy sector of Azerbaijan.

The first day of Ilham Aliyev's visit to Berlin, and his meeting with representatives of leading German companies, was dedicated to these and many other topics. The importance of this part of the visit cannot be underestimated. Using the terminology of the Marxist school, the meeting provided a strong economic basis for German-Azerbaijani relations.

Cooperation in all crucial sectors of Azerbaijan's development was discussed: energy and pipelines, transport infrastructure (including ports and railways), the restoration of liberated territories, green energy (including the Karabakh economic region), high-tech, as well as industry, agriculture, and finance. These are likely to be multi-billion dollar contracts.

The next day, the visit moved to the political arena. Aliyev met with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and then Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The details of the meetings with the German leaders have already been talked about extensively in our media, but if we try to sketch out the general outlines, we can state that Germany reaffirmed its commitment to establishing long-term peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the basis of mutual respect for territorial integrity.

All Armenian speculations about Scholz's famous slipup during a joint press conference with Nikol Pashinyan (during the latter's visit to Germany in early March) were in fact refuted. It should be noted that this reservation was removed from the text of the speech on the official page of the German government. This time, responding to a question from a Real TV journalist, Scholz stressed that Germany does not recognise the independence of "Nagorno-Karabakh".

Any mechanism can fail, even if it is German. Let alone people. And the Germans can make a mistake. The press conference of the two leaders put everything in its place.

By the way, the Armenian side has already managed to take offence at the Chancellor. "Does Chancellor Scholz's position change depending on the meeting?" the Yerevan Today website wonders.

"Let us also remind you that Yerevan.Today has sent an enquiry to the German embassy in Armenia in connection with this (referring to the removal of the clause from the website - ed.). We will publish the response as soon as we receive it," the website says of its principled desire to expose the German government...

We will also follow the news of the inquisitive publication, but express our sympathy in advance to our colleagues whatever the outcome of their journalistic investigation. It seems that the most consoling result for them will be the absence of any reaction from Scheidemanstrasse, 2.

The expectation of the Armenian side (and their French patrons) that Germany would guarantee some kind of 'special rights' for the Armenians of Karabakh failed miserably. Significantly, it was the Azerbaijani president's visit that provided an excellent opportunity for German leaders to show that Europe would not tolerate the dictates of the French president's neo-imperial ambitions, no matter how well-crafted speeches he might use to hide behind.

It is worth highlighting President Steinmeier's words about Germany's commitment to the Brussels format of the negotiations. Against the background of the French-Armenian tandem's incessant lamentation of its attempts to steer the talks towards the Prague format (mediated by Paris), the statements by the German president may signal both the serious contradictions in the views of the two major European countries on the peace process in the South Caucasus and the consequent unwillingness of Germany to follow the French lead.

In this context, one can even cautiously observe the shape of the Brussels-Berlin-Baku axis as a sign of healthy Europe-East cooperation against the background of global challenges. We can only hope that the principles of justice and common sense will finally prevail in the minds of European elites in their relations with Azerbaijan.

Caliber.Az