Azerbaijan says STOP to EU “Teacher-student” relationships unacceptable for Baku

According to the information received by Caliber.Az from diplomatic sources, Azerbaijan has suspended a number of joint projects with the EU. The matter rests in the so-called Twinning projects, within which European officials “instructed” Azerbaijani state agencies on their work procedure in accordance with European standards. This scheme is as follows. A Twinning consultant from an EU country is sent to the relevant state agency of the beneficiary country for a period of 12 to 36 months for the entire period of project implementation and coordinates its activity. The Twinning project work plan usually includes short- and medium-term expert missions and training events.

It is noteworthy that at the forefront of most of these projects was Lithuania, a country demonstrating the most ardent pro-Armenian and anti-Azerbaijani position after France. Thus, Azerbaijan stopped three joint projects with Lithuania in law enforcement, healthcare, and social security sectors.

“In many cases, the activity and curiosity of Lithuanian representatives in these key spheres of state functioning crossed the line of cooperation and aroused suspicion,” our source said.

The twinning project with Sweden and Greece in migration was also stopped. The Azerbaijani side made the exception only for projects with Poland and Finland due to the balanced position of these countries.

Such projects probably made sense in the 1990s and early 2000s, but in 2023, when Azerbaijan is strong enough, the “teacher-student” relationship with the EU is unacceptable to Baku. Moreover, such cooperation does not seem possible amid “warnings” and “clear signals” sent by a guardian of Armenian separatism, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

As for the exchange of experience with state agencies of foreign countries to improve the quality of administration, there are still bilateral relations with friendly European countries. Moreover, some high-tech countries in Asia have long been ahead of the EU both in the level of digitalization and the efficiency of administrative reforms. So, Baku will find partners, but institutional cooperation with the EU in internal administration is apparently coming to its logical conclusion.