Hungarian FM: Azerbaijan is our strategic partner in South Caucasus region

How do you assess the current bilateral relations between Hungary and Azerbaijan?

Hungary considers the Republic of Azerbaijan as a strategic partner in the South Caucasus region. We recognized the independence of Azerbaijan on 26 December, 1991. Diplomatic relations were established on 27 April, 1992. The first embassy of Hungary in Baku was opened on January 12, 2009. The political relations between the two countries are meaningful and excellent, with no major problems or misunderstandings. Economic cooperation is also steadily on the rise. In the field of contracts we have already done the bulk of the job and created a whole net of so called basic agreements destined to boost this cooperation.

Past years have witnessed a number of important high level visits between the two countries. Just to mention the most important ones, we had the privilege to welcome President Ilham Aliyev twice in Hungary, first in February 2008 and then in January 2009. The Prime Minister of Hungary also visited Azerbaijan twice, in July and November 2008. In September 2008 the Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary held talks in Baku.

We are really impressed by the remarkable economic performance of Azerbaijan, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of which is increasing by more than 10% per year despite the severe conditions of the global financial crisis. The economic turnover between the two countries is also on the rise. The overall Hungarian-Azerbaijani turnover was USD 85.9 million in 2008, while in the period between January and September 2009 it was USD 62,7 million. These figures highlight that we have serious reserves in our bilateral economic relations to be exploited by common efforts.

Besides the political and economic fields, we have an increasingly developing cooperation in the field of culture, education, defense and energy supply. We are convinced that Azerbaijan can play a significant role in the diversification of Europe’s energy supply. Therefore we would welcome the greatest possible involvement and participation of Azerbaijan in the Nabucco Project as well.

What is Budapest’s position on the question of Armenian Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

We are quite aware of the complexity of this problem. Given the political, legal, historical, moral and human aspects of the conflict, we consider that the genuine solution can only be worked out along and on the basis of the so called Madrid Principles. The solution has to be reached through negotiations and only by peaceful means, taking into consideration the core interest of each party concerned. It is very important to mention that the territorial integrity of the countries involved and the rights of the national minorities has to be equally respected.
There is no doubt that the direct highest-level contacts play a crucial role in the solution of this conflict. Therefore, we truly welcome the practice of personal meetings and talks between the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia. We do hope that the two heads of state will find the right modalities of the solution.

At this moment, how does Hungary see the perspectives of success of the Nabucco project? What are your expectations from Azerbaijan in this matter?

Hungary has contributed considerably to the success of Nabucco by promoting it on every possible international forum, including the January Nabucco Summit held in Budapest. The Hungarian Parliament was the first to ratify the Nabucco Intergovernmental Agreement, and our ambassador-at-large has already deposited the instrument of ratification in Ankara. This may give a further impetus to other state parties to accelerate their internal procedure of ratification. Indeed, the year of 2009 was a milestone in the life of Nabucco. However the fate of the project will be decided only in the coming year. In order to reach the point of no return Nabucco needs a final investment decision at end of 2010.

To launch the project per se, the pipeline should be filled up with gas. Azerbaijan has already committed herself several times to offering 8 bcm of natural gas from the Shah Deniz field. Nevertheless, the consortium needs not only the molecules to start the project. Member states highly appreciate and keep counting on the political cooperation of Azerbaijan, considering the Nabucco not merely as a commercial project but as a symbol of long-term strategic teamwork between EU and Caspian countries.

The EU Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner has made a statement that European Union continues its work on giving the associative membership to the “Eastern Partnership” program country members. Now, considering that Hungary is a member of the EU, and Azerbaijan is in the “Eastern Partnership” program, what, in your opinion, are the privileges of this associative membership?

The Eastern Partnership has never been a "doorstep" to EU membership. Its main goal has been and will remain to assist our partner countries in their approximation to EU structures, offering specific bilateral and multilateral programs and projects in order to assist the implementation of their structural reforms in the fields of economy, finances, good governance, institution building etc. Therefore, the Eastern Partnership is not about membership. However, in accordance with Article 49 of the Treaty of Rome, the possibility of membership is open to any European country which fulfils the membership criteria.

The Eastern Partnership may open new forms of cooperation between the EU and the partner countries, including the upgrading of contractual relations towards association agreements. The same has been offered to Azerbaijan.

Considering Hungary’s experience in the EU integration process, what, in this case, Budapest could share with Baku?

Hungary has been supporting Azerbaijan’s rapprochement to the EU. We are ready to offer all kind of assistance at our disposal, including our experience in preparing for negotiations on the post-Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. During our EU Presidency in the first half of 2011, we would like to put on the EU’s agenda issues of interest for our Eastern partners, including Azerbaijan. We wish to create favorable circumstances for preparing decisions giving additional impetus to our mutually advantageous cooperation.

Do you believe that the South Caucasus countries (which include Azerbaijan) could in time become “full” members of the European Union? Some experts expressed an interesting point of view. According to them, “Eastern Partnership” program is considered some sort of a “buffer zone” between the countries of the EU and other countries of the region. Do you agree with that?

It is crucial that the Eastern Partnership will provide additional impetus to the economic and social development of our Eastern partners. Consequently, it can help to ease the impact of the global economic crisis which has badly affected the region. However, the Eastern Partnership is a long-term program, not a magic cure-all for every problem. It offers a broad range “menu” from which the relevant partner countries could choose, according to their aspirations, needs, and level of ambition.

This is not a “carte blanche” of course – conditionality and differentiation are key principles of the Eastern Partnership. Better performance of partner countries is a prerequisite to make effective use of the framework of the Eastern Partnership.

The Eastern Partnership is not a tool for EU integration. However, its programs facilitating the adoption of the acquis and the convergence to the EU’s system of values and rules should prove helpful in practice for those Eastern partners who wish to have a European perspective.
Consequently, the Eastern Partnership has never been a “buffer zone” between the EU and other countries; it is rather an important step forward, a concrete policy to be developed according to our mutual interest.

Should there be expected any official visits from Hungary to Azerbaijan in the near future?

It is our intention to continue developing our relations through high-level contacts. We consider reciprocating some time in the not too distant future the highest level visit by the President of Azerbaijan to Hungary. However, as you may also know, the schedule of the Hungarian President and the political agenda in Hungary in 2010 are rather tight. Parliamentary elections will be followed by the municipal elections and later on by the election of the Head of State at the National Assembly. So while we try to keep this momentum alive and back up the practice of high level contacts, we have to manage at the same time the difficult task of the right timing of the forthcoming visits.

Nevertheless, we do attach great importance to this matter and believe that the highest level visits as well as those of official and professional nature are very important. They may considerably boost our relations and open up new opportunities for further excellent cooperation between Hungary and Azerbaijan.

T. Teymur