Jens Stoltenberg: NATO, Azerbaijan nearing agreement on new partnership framework

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who was on an official visit to Azerbaijan, was interviewed by Azerbaijan State News Agency - AZERTAC on March 18. We present the interview.

As we commemorate the 30th anniversary of Azerbaijan`s signing of the Partnership for Peace program and the establishment of a substantive partnership with NATO, how would you evaluate the current level of cooperation and relations between the parties during this period?

- Azerbaijan is an important and valued partner for NATO for many reasons. We celebrate the 30th anniversary of our partnership this year, and Azerbaijan has participated in many NATO missions and operations over these years. For many years, you were present in our mission, Kosovo (KFOR) and then Azerbaijan was also very much present in Afghanistan over many years. I met Azerbaijani soldiers in Afghanistan and I saw their professionalism and their dedication. Azerbaijani soldiers played very important role, especially towards the end of the mission, protecting the embassy and protecting thoroughly the airport, helping us to evacuate more than hundred thousand people out of the airport in Kabul. So, the last soldiers to leave were actually Azerbaijani soldiers together, with the US and a few others.

Then, we also welcomed the important role that Azerbaijan has played in many other ways to strengthen political dialogue and practical cooperation. NATO has worked with Azerbaijan on many different issues for many years, and we are now looking to how we can further expand our partnership.

Over the past three decades, Azerbaijan has closely collaborated with NATO in regional security, various operations, peacekeeping measures, and other domains. From your perspective, what is the significance of Azerbaijan's partnership for NATO?

- Azerbaijan is important for NATO because we have the practical partnership and political dialogue but, of course, Azerbaijan is also important for NATO because of energy security and especially since Russia has started to really use gas as a tool to try to coerce NATO allies of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It was extremely important for NATO allies in Europe to wean off Russian gas, and increased deliveries from Azerbaijan have enabled NATO allies in Europe to be independent of Russia as a gas supplier. And that was a very fast and quick process that actually went quite well, given the very difficult circumstances. There is a demand now for further increasing the gas export from roughly 12 billion cubic meters to 20, which is a significant part of Europe`s gas consumption, and for some allies, gas from Azerbaijan is very important. I also welcome that work has started now not only on providing natural gas, but also exporting power through electric cable and direct export from Azerbaijan of power will further increase the importance of Azerbaijan as an energy supplier to Europe, to NATO allies in Europe. This is also part of the efforts of Azerbaijan to develop renewable sources of energy, wind power, offshore wind but also solar power. And by doing so, Azerbaijan has become a part of the big energy transition, which has to take place if we are going to be able to fight the climate change. In that context, of course, it is also very important that Azerbaijan is playing an important role in hosting COP-29, the big climate conference in November this year. I really believe and hope that COP29 here in Baku will provide us with a platform we need as an international community to make important decisions on many issues related to fighting global warming or climate change, not least climate financing, to finance big investments, we need to conduct the big energy transition.

As you mentioned Azerbaijan's support for NATO operations has been crucial, with active participation in missions such as Kosovo and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, alongside providing political, military, logistical, air, and land transit support. How do you assess Azerbaijan's contributions in this area?

- Azerbaijan has well-trained, well-equipped forces. I met them and have seen how professional they are. They played a very important role, especially in Afghanistan at the airport, Azerbaijani soldiers were there for many years and conducting many different tasks, but at the airport, they played a very important role in protecting the airport itself to enable the evacuation of more than hundred thousand people out of Kabul and Afghanistan in the last days of our presence back in 2021. At the airport, we also had a NATO hospital, which was extremely important to provide support and healthcare for people at the airport not least the NATO or the soldiers coming from NATO ally countries. So, the last thing that was closed down was the airport itself and, the protection of the airport with Azerbaijani soldiers, together with also Türkiye and hospital that was run by some NATO allies. So all in all, this was extremely critical, very important and actually one of the people in my staff, in my international staff at NATO headquarters, he was deployed to Kabul, he was at the airport helping to organize the evacuation. He was wounded and his life was saved by Azerbaijani soldiers who took care of him. They were there helping him and gave him some first aid and then they brought him to the hospital. So, soldiers from Azerbaijan have been and were very critical in providing support. In NATO, we are of course very grateful for what they did over all these years and particularly, in the last weeks.

Given the new realities emerging in the region, what are the key issues on the agenda and the action plan for further developing relations between NATO and Azerbaijan?

- For us, it is very important that there is a lasting peace settlement between Azerbaijan and Armenia and I welcome the message from President Aliyev yesterday, when we had a dinner and at a press conference and meeting, where he stated very clearly that you are now closer to a peace agreement than ever before. There are some remaining issues that have to be solved, but I really hope that both parties, both Azerbaijan and Armenia, seize this opportunity to find and to agree a peace agreement, to establish the conditions for a lasting peace because peace and stability in this region is of course, very important for the people who live in this region. It’s important for creating the conditions and framework for investments for prosperity. Because we know that peace and stability is precondition for any economic development and economic growth. Peace and stability in this region matters for international peace and security. So it is in the interest of NATO allies to have lasting peace. So therefore, I strongly believe that everything should be done to ensure lasting peace and security.

This year has seen active developments for NATO, including the acceptance of a new member. What are NATO's priority goals for the upcoming years, and how does the Caucasus region contribute to achieving these objectives?

- In Caucasus, we have several important NATO partners. So, the Caucasus is important to NATO because it matters for Euro-Atlantic security and NATO is eager for the further development of partnership with the countries in the Caucasus. Of course, Georgia is in a special position because Georgia has applied for NATO membership. And NATO has also stated several times that Georgia will become a NATO member. Of course, the Caucasus is also close, to not so far from at least Ukraine where there is full-fledged war of aggression by Russia that matters for the whole of Europe. It matters for Caucasus. And if president Putin wins in Ukraine. it is not only a challenge for Ukrainians, it is also dangerous for all of us, including Azerbaijan and NATO allies. Because, the message to President Putin is when you use military forces he gets what he wants. So, he will then see that blatant violation of international law, invading another country will pay off and that will reduce the threshold for any future use of force. Therefore, it is in our interest, in the interest of NATO allies as well as Azerbaijan and many other countries around the world to prevent President Putin from winning. I welcome the support that Azerbaijan has provided to Ukraine. Humanitarian support but also demining equipment. I think it is also very important to have economic sanctions imposed against Russia because they had to pay a price for violating international law, for invading another country.

Various projects have been undertaken to align the Azerbaijan Armed Forces with NATO standards. Could you elaborate on the nature of these activities and any upcoming steps planned in this direction?

- Yes absolutely, we are now in the process of agreeing a new framework for partnership between NATO and Azerbaijan and that framework will focus on the issues like inter-operability which exactly how to ensure that the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan can work together to meet NATO standards, and are fully inter-operable with NATO forces. We will also focus on, for instance, military education, which will also increase interoperability between our forces. We will look into other areas where we can further deepen our cooperation and all of these will bring Azerbaijani and NATO forces closer to each other which I think will be of mutual benefit both for Azerbaijan and NATO allies.