Ázerbájdžán v předvečer summitu Východního partnerství ve Vilniusu
Azerbaijan on the eve of the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius

Author(s): Václav Lídl
Subject(s): International relations/trade, Post-Communist Transformation
Published by: AMO – Asociace pro mezinárodní otázky
Keywords: Ilham Aliyev; Azerbaijan in Eatern Partnership;
Summary/Abstract: The ruling elite of Azerbaijan is guided by its own interests and only then by the interests of the nation it manages as a huge energy company. Ilham Aliyev has no interest in EU integration for the time being; he sees the organization only as a good customer with whom he tries to maintain fair relations. Unlike Ukraine, Georgia or Armenia, the Union has no foreign policy leverage over Azerbaijan for the simple reason that this country has enough of its own finances. Azerbaijan was included in the VP because it is a country in the post-Soviet South Caucasus, but in recent years it has had much more in common with the Muslim states of the Middle East or the Persian Gulf than with Armenia and Georgia. As in the case of Armenia, Azerbaijan's progress within the VP is a significant argument for the creation of a two-speed EU neighbourhood policy.

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