Brussels open to TRIPP participation but seeks broader framework

The European Union views the proposed TRIPP connectivity project as part of a wider effort to link Central Asia with Europe, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said during a press briefing with visiting Armenian journalists.

Asked whether the EU was considering involvement in the project, Commissioner Kos stressed that the bloc’s focus extended beyond the 42-kilometre TRIPP section itself, Caliber.Az reports via Armenian media. 

“It's from Central Asia to Europe. [TRIPP] is only 42 kilometres. For us, it is very much important that whatever we do, it will not be just this part, but that what goes to east and what goes to west will be done at the same time,” she said.

Kos added that the EU was already engaged in broader regional discussions. 

“We also have our own ideas. We are also discussing with Türkiye and we are also discussing with Azerbaijan. So it makes no sense that we do part by part. But in this respect, the cooperation or involvement of the United States of America is of a much higher importance than just building 42 kilometres of the railway,” she said.

The Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) is a US-brokered infrastructure project aimed at establishing a multimodal transit corridor through southern Armenia, connecting Azerbaijan’s mainland to its Nakhchivan exclave.

The route, approximately 40–43 km long in Armenia’s Syunik Province, includes rail, road, gas and oil pipelines, power lines, and fibre-optic cables. It is part of ongoing Azerbaijan-Armenia normalisation efforts following the 2020 Karabakh war and subsequent anti-terror operation in 2023 that fully restored Azerbaijan’s sovereignty.

By Sabina Mammadli