Involving NATO with safeguarding Nabucco’s security can endanger project’s realization: Azerbaijani expert

Day.Az: NATO-Azerbaijan meeting in formar of 27+1 will be held in Brussels on July 15.  How do you assess current level of Azerbaijan-NATO cooperation?  

Tofiq Abbasov: Cooperation between NATO and Azerbaijan is on the rise. In this context, Azerbaijan has repeatedly made it clear that cooperation with NATO is a two-way road where common interest clash. But the ultimate goal of Azerbaijan is not an admission into the alliance. Anyway, so far.

For Georgia or Ukrainian admission into NATO is a consequence of the strongly pronounced pro-Western political line.  

But for Azerbaijan's cooperation with NATO is a means to reform the country's defense industry, military and to learn NATO standards which meet our interests.

I would not link the issue of Azerbaijan-NATO cooperation with admission into the military and political bloc.

Q: On July 13, Nabucco deal was signed in Ankara. Can NATO safeguard Nabucco’s security?

A: I think that the tension surrounding the project Nabucco is artificially heated to cause a violent reaction from Russia and thereby convince NATO and the political circles in the West that there is a need the military and political support for the project. Nabucco  is the purely economic project, as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum. Involving military and political organizations at this or a later stage may simply threaten the very idea of this project.

Q: What is Azerbaijan’s position and role regarding this project?

A: Azerbaijan’s position in this project is very profitable and winning. Azerbaijan has prerequisite to ensure that at any time it can become an active participant in the project. With regard to lobbying the interests of the Nabucco project, Azerbaijan has a fairly balanced position on the issue, and I think this is the right approach. Azerbaijan has obvious opportunities both as transit and supplier country. Therefore, there are more interest to us more than we are interested in Nabucco.

/Day.Az/