Brussels, 22/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 22 July, European Council President Donald Tusk stated that he had agreed to set a “steady pace”, along with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, for talks for a strategic partnership agreement - “an ambitious new bilateral agreement”.
“Azerbaijan is our trustworthy and strategic partner in the area of energy and we want to take this partnership further”, Tusk said on his visit to the country, at a time when the EU wants to be less dependent on Russian gas. “Azerbaijan is a key partner” in the EU's efforts to diversify its supplies, he added.
In Tusk's view, Azerbaijan also has the potential to become one of the EU's key trading partners in the future. “Good governance and the rule of law are important to create a favourable trade and investment environment”, he said, stating that the EU was ready to help Azerbaijan in these areas. Tusk also spoke of the importance the EU gave to the rule of law and fundamental freedoms, and he underlined the concerns of Europeans about the detention of human rights activists (our translation). (Camille-Cerise Gessant)