Multifaceted meeting in UK: President Ilham Aliyev attends 4th EPC Summit

The 4th European Political Community summit is being held in Oxford, near London, and what is most important is Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to the UK to attend the event. President Ilham Aliyev is attending the summit at the invitation of Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. During the summit, it was planned to hold a meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to discuss the peace agenda at the proposal of the host country.

Armenia's refusal to attend the meeting reflects its intention to withdraw from dialogue and advance the peace agenda

The United Kingdom, as the host of the European Political Community, proposed holding a meeting between Armenia and Azerbaijan, suggesting it follow the format of the meeting between the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia at the Munich Security Conference. This was told by Hikmat Hajiyev, the Head of the Department of Foreign Policy Affairs of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan, to local journalists following Pashinyan's refusal to attend the meeting.

Hajiyev recalled German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's attendance at the beginning of the meeting at Munich Security Conference and said that the meeting continued in a bilateral format between Azerbaijan and Armenia. So this time, the UK, as the host, proposed a meeting in the same format.

According to the Azerbaijani official, Armenia's refusal to attend this meeting is a reflection of its intention to withdraw from dialogue and advance the peace agenda.

"While Armenia talks about peace on various platforms, its refusal to participate in a meeting that serves to advance the peace agenda is unacceptable. The international community should assess whether Armenia is actually rejecting opportunities for dialogue rather than advancing them. We highly appreciate the UK's initiative for peace from our side," H.Hajiyev said.

If we take a closer look at the issue, it is impossible to find any reason or need for Armenia to avoid the meeting. Before that, for example, the meetings of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia at the most recent Washington summit reflected that the peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan would lead to positive results. Armenia's rejection of Great Britain's offer and refusal to meet with the Azerbaijani side only reflects Armenia's non-serious and reluctant approach to the peace issue once again.

As mentioned, President Ilham Aliyev's visit to the United Kingdom was multifaceted. Thus, the head of state met with the Prime Minister of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Luc Frieden. The Prime Minister of Luxembourg once again emphasised the importance of obtaining more information about Azerbaijan and the region and the stability of the region for his country. He pointed out that Luxembourg's regional policy is balanced.

In addition, Azerbaijan and Luxembourg exchanged views on issues of cooperation in high technologies, healthcare, investments, transportation, and other fields.

The importance of Azerbaijan hosting COP29 was emphasised at the meeting. The Prime Minister of Luxembourg pointed out that he intends to participate in this event.

During his participation in the summit, President Ilham Aliyev also had talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Swiss President Viola Amher.

Azerbaijan's participation in the European Political Community summit at the invitation of Great Britain has another historical and strategic significance. Because one of the main directions in Azerbaijan's successful multifaceted foreign policy is relations with Great Britain. As mentioned, relations between Great Britain and Azerbaijan are of historical and strategic importance. The modern history of relations between the two countries dates back to the early 1990s. Great Britain was one of the first Western countries to recognise the restoration of Azerbaijan's independence. The United Kingdom recognised the independence of Azerbaijan on December 31, 1991. Diplomatic relations between our countries were established on March 11, 1992. So far, many successful achievements have been made in terms of expanding relations between the two countries, and now Azerbaijan-UK relations have reached the highest level of development.

Previous meeting in Spain's Granada

It should be recalled that the 3rd EPC meeting was held in Granada, Spain, on October 5 of last year. Thus, the Alhambra hosted the Royal reception and dinner of the 3rd EPC summit, where the date and venue for the summit were announced in February 2023.

So, before talking about the event in details, let's review the past year.

It should be noted that the meeting held in Granada on October 5, 2023, was held without the participation of Azerbaijan. At that time, President Ilham Aliyev openly refused to attend the summit.

What was the reason for Azerbaijan's refusal to attend the 3rd meeting?

In general, 2023 can be considered the most decisive period in the political history of Azerbaijan. On September 19 of last year, local anti-terrorist operations conducted by the Azerbaijani army against Armenian separatism became the object of wide discussion in Western circles. Many international organizations and even members of the European Union parliament voted on the issue and proposed boycott campaigns and even sanctions measures against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan, which tried to clear its sovereign territories from the invading Armenian separatism, was subjected to anti-Azerbaijani slogans and pressures carried out with the active participation of France at that time.

The 3rd EPC summit was the period when Yerevan relied mostly on official Paris and its “staunch” political partners in the European Union. The ICRC operating in Garabagh, the European Mission group monitoring our territories with binoculars on the borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, and other organizations were looking for an opportunity to put pressure on Azerbaijan. It was evident from the beginning that Azerbaijan's meeting with Armenia would be insincere and non-objective among the political group that is poised against Azerbaijan, takes a biased and extremely pro-Armenian position.

Currently, the visit of President Ilham Aliyev to participate in the event reflects the changing geopolitical and geostrategic realities in the region. Against the background of the steps taken towards peace, the meeting of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Ilham Aliyev is now focused on a completely different issue - peace and peace negotiations again.

Although the main topic of the EPC summit is the issue of illegal immigration, this time the ongoing Ukraine-Russia crisis will be the main topic of discussion at the event. The meeting between the President of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia and the joint participation of representatives from European countries in the meeting increase the hopes that the peace agreement between the two countries will be signed soon. The successful policy of Azerbaijan in the last ten months has already radically changed the attitude towards Azerbaijan among the countries of the European Union and even in the entire Western society.

The political conundrum and internal problems in France have already weakened the influence of the previous Yerevan-Paris union. Politicians working "with determination" in favour of Armenia in the European Union recognise Azerbaijan's unchanging position and reckon with its political will.

The European Political Community (EPC), which includes EU and non-EU countries, is holding its 4th summit in the UK on Thursday to discuss Ukraine, energy, democracy protection, and irregular migration.

Heads of state or government from about 45 European countries are attending the summit in Oxford, near London, the capital of England.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with heads of state and participants who were attending the summit.

The summit will be Starmer's first international meeting since assuming office on July 6. King Charles III will also host a reception for summit participants.

- 1st EPC Summit since 2022

The EPC invited leaders from 27 EU members, as well as Türkiye, Western Balkan countries (Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, UK, Iceland, Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.

During the meeting, they discussed Russia's attack on Ukraine, the energy crisis, and the economic situation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined via videoconference.

Moreover, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev also held a quadrilateral meeting with Macron and EU Council President Charles Michel on the sidelines of the summit. This format was repeated at subsequent summits.

The summit concluded with the decision to continue the EPC.

- 2nd summit in Moldova

The second EPC meeting in Moldova sent a strong unity message to Moscow from the EU and Western countries.

It highlighted support for Moldova amid concerns about Russia's intentions following Ukraine. President Zelenskyy attended in person, focusing on Ukraine's support, alongside discussions on peace efforts between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the crisis in Kosovo.

- 3rd summit in Spain

Under Spain's EU presidency, leaders met in Granada to discuss "digitalization, energy-ecological transition, and multilateralism – Europe's political future" in roundtable meetings and bilateral discussions.

Despite Ukraine and Zelenskyy's support being a key focus, planned talks between Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders did not occur due to disagreements over participation requirements, which led to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev opting not to attend, impacting the summit's agenda, which focused on Garabagh developments.