Georgia: New Azerbaijan–Armenia roads to boost regional significance

Georgia’s foreign minister said new transport links between Azerbaijan and Armenia will strengthen the South Caucasus, dismissing concerns that her country could be sidelined

In an interview with the Georgian television channel, Maka Bochorishvili said ongoing discussions about building new roads between Azerbaijan and Armenia should be seen as a positive development.

“We can say with confidence that this is good for the region,” she said, according to APA’s local bureau. “New roads will only increase the region’s importance in terms of connectivity.”

Bochorishvili rejected suggestions that Georgia’s traditional role as a transit hub between Europe and Asia could be undermined.

“I genuinely do not see any risk here. Georgia will not disappear from the map,” she said. “Those who speak about connectivity today but fail to mention Georgia as a principal link to Europe call their own competence into question.”

She added that it was inconceivable for any new route to replace Georgia. Demand for transit throughout the country, she said, has been rising year on year, reflecting growing freight volumes between the West and East.

“The route through Georgia has been functioning for a long time, and demand for it increases every year,” she said. “Even if three or four additional routes are added, that will not be sufficient given the scale of cargo flows between the west and the east.”

Turning to diplomacy, Bochorishvili said a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, reached on 8 August last year in Washington, remains high on the agenda of the US president, Donald Trump.

She said visits by the US vice-president, J. D. Vance, to both countries were a continuation of that process.

“Vance’s trip to these two South Caucasus countries, which have brought a long-standing conflict to an end, was a clear demonstration of this,” Bochorishvili added.

By Aghakazim Guliyev