25 November 2009: News.Az
News.Az interviews Adam Ward, director of studies at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
Do you agree that the EU is not playing its role properly in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia?
I think you're right.
It is in the interest of the EU that the conflict be resolved as soon as possible. The EU, as you know, is trying to organize itself in a way that makes it a more effective actor in international security issues in order to fulfil the Lisbon treaty. There is, therefore, the high representative for common foreign and security policy. So I would hope that the EU will focus its attention on this kind of conflict.
But does the EU, which includes many different states, have a common view on the Karabakh conflict?
There is a problem when Europe has so many member states. Each of them has different perspectives on issues and sometimes it is very difficult to find a common approach to an issue.
When you are united it can be very effective. What needs to happen first is for the EU to reflect a common view on the conflict and think how we can intervene most effectively to help resolve this kind of problem.
Do you think that the Karabakh conflict can be an obstacle to Azerbaijan's integration in the EU?
The EU would not want the conflict to hold the whole relationship captive. So even if the conflict cannot be resolved in the short term, I’m sure that the EU would like to have strong and productive relations with Azerbaijan and to reflect its interests in the context of the wider geopolitical scene here.
But at the same time the EU plays quite a weak role here in Azerbaijan, talking mostly about energy cooperation.
- I don’t agree with that so much. I think it is really a matter of lack of effectiveness. The EU increasingly sees the whole region as important for European security. We all saw in the case of Georgia how regional conflicts can very quickly affect relations between the major powers. The Georgian dispute with Russia obviously had an immediate impact on European relations with Russia, on US relations with Russia, in a way that was very problematic.
At the same time Azerbaijan is modernizing, beginning to import many kinds of European standards in terms of economic and business issues. And Azerbaijan has potential to be not just a problem for Europe, but actually to provide solutions on international issues such as energy security, which is in the interests of everybody in the region.
Lala B.
News.Az
