Benita Ferrero-Waldner: "Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad does not seem to us to be a project of regional importance"

We can mark 2007 as the first stage after Azerbaijan signed the ENP National Action Plan. How does the European Union assess this year with regard to its cooperation with Azerbaijan?

It is now one year that we embarked into the process of the European Neighbourhood Policy. And through our joint programmes our relations move ever closer to each other. The Commission is currently drafting the 2007 Progress Reports for all the twelve partner countries having an ENP Action Plan. The Reports will be published in the next weeks and will give a brief but accurate overview of what has been done in the last months by Azerbaijan.

In which directions of political reforms the European Union is interested? Will the European Union participate as an observer in the 2008 presidential elections?

The European Union is interested in furthering democratic reforms and strengthening Azerbaijan’s governance mechanisms, while at the same time granting an adequate protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms to everybody in the country. As regards this year’s Presidential Elections, the Commission will not send its own observation mission. We never do, when elections take place in an OSCE country. But we will cooperate closely with OSCE/ODIHR and under the umbrella of OSCE/ODIHR there will also be some members of the European Parliament

What kind of impediments does create the Nagorniy Karabakh conflict and in general the occupation of the Azerbaijani territories by Armenia in the cooperation between the European Union and the South Caucasus?

It is evident that the presence of frozen conflicts in the region is an obstacle to further development of the countries individually, including their own cooperation at the regional level and it also limits the possibilities of cooperation initiatives that could be implemented by the European Commission.

For this reason, we do hope that Armenia and Azerbaijan, in the context of the OSCE Minsk Group peace talks, manage to find rapidly a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Commission has been inviting both Armenia and Azerbaijan to participate in more regional cooperation initiatives, which can gradually build confidence between the two sides and facilitate the conclusion of a peace agreement.

2007 is the year of laying the foundation of Baku-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki-Kars railways. Even if the European Union does not financially support this project for certain reasons, will it morally support this large-scale regional project?

The Commission has always stressed that it would support both politically and financially, transport routes having an inclusive and “regional” character. This does not seem to be the case of the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway, at least for the time being.

/Day.Az/