EU's Kallas visits Baku to advance 'strategic partnership' with Azerbaijan

The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas continued her South Caucasus tour in Baku by holding talks with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, continuing political engagement and advancing key energy and connectivity projects between the EU and Azerbaijan amid the evolving global energy challenges.

Kallas travelled to Baku after attending the EU-Armenia summit in Yerevan, as the EU is currently engaging both Armenia and Azerbaijan in their peace process, as well as for the EU’s political and economic engagement with the South Caucasus, as highlighted by EU Council President Antonio Costa’s recent visit to Baku.

Kallas mirrored Costa’s recent statements in Baku by underlining that “strengthening connectivity between the EU, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia, is in our shared strategic interest and we are open to discuss a more structured partnership with Azerbaijan."

“Azerbaijan is a valued and reliable energy partner for the European Union,” Kallas said, adding that according to EU briefings, the talks covered the full scope of EU–Azerbaijan relations, including trade, transport, digital cooperation and regional connectivity.

During their meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev told Kallas that Azerbaijani natural gas had recently begun reaching Germany and Austria for the first time, expanding the Southern Gas Corridor's footprint beyond its existing customers in southern and southeastern Europe.

The EU foreign policy chief said “there is clear scope to deepen our cooperation" and that the EU is ready to discuss a “more structured partnership,” signalling openness to strengthening the framework of relations.

The EEAS statement also noted that “of course, open and candid dialogue on human rights remains an integral part of our engagement."

Peace process on the agenda

As part of the EU’s parallel engagement with Armenia and Azerbaijan, Kallas called their evolving peace process “a historic opportunity" and said that "it’s important to sustain momentum."

"The EU has a range of tools to support this, from supporting confidence-building measures to demining where we’re already the biggest donor,” Kallas added, as demining is a major challenge for both countries after decades of conflict.

The EEAS chief travelled to Baku the day after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's visit, in a sign of Azerbaijan's growing role in the EU's energy security and trade routes as the war in Iran continues to disrupt the global supply routes, experts said.

“The EU High Representative's visit is reflective of the strategic importance of Azerbaijan to the EU as the region stands as a reliable partner in trade routes, particularly given instability in traditional corridors, and its central role in the Middle Corridor,” Azerbaijan political analyst Fuad Karimli told Euronews in Baku.

The Middle Corridor, also known as the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), is a transport network by rail and maritime routes connecting China and Southeast Asia, through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and onwards to Turkey and Europe.

It is emerging as a strategic transit route between Asia and Europe and a strong Eurasian alternative amid global supply chain disruptions in the Middle East.

Azerbaijan is a key transit hub for the Middle Corridor and following its historic peace with Armenia, both South Caucasus countries are expected to strengthen the Middle Corridor solution for global markets.

Meanwhile, analyst Zoltan Egeresi, a research fellow at Ludovika University in Hungary, described the visit as a signal of continued EU engagement in the region.

“Kaja Kallas’ visit, following her participation in the European Political Community summit, demonstrates the EU’s commitment to Azerbaijan and its involvement in peace efforts between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” Egeresi said.

“Azerbaijan has become an important partner in the South Caucasus and a gateway towards Central Asia, which has gained increasing importance in EU strategic planning,” Egeresi added.

'Strong signal of joint vision'

EU–Azerbaijan relations are based on the 1999 Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and structured through the Eastern Partnership framework, which supports political dialogue and sectoral cooperation.

During his recent visit to Baku, European Council President Antonio Costa said that Brussels and Baku are now working on a new framework for closer cooperation, intended to widen relations beyond their existing energy links.

According to the European Council president's statement at the time, the proposed framework would deepen cooperation in the fields of security, defence, energy, digital development and transport.

“This sends a strong signal of our joint vision for the future,” Costa said, underlining that “energy security is a cornerstone of the EU’s cooperation with Azerbaijan.