Baku 13° C
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For the Azerbaijani side, the idea was to have a comprehensive, strategically oriented agreement with our EU friends, beneficial for both sides, Azerbaijani ambassador to EU Fuad Isgandarov said, Report informs citing Euroactiv.
"Bilateral relations are growing, they are enhancing. We are working very actively to finalise the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline project and believe that the first molecule of Azerbaijani gas will be delivered to the European market in 2020. This is general Azerbaijani approach: we work to create a very strong economic basis, and from there construct our political negotiations, our political dialogue and of course, our bilateral agreement," the ambassador said.
Answering the question of defining the terms of signing a new EU-Azerbaijan agreement, the ambassador said: "From the very beginning, we didn’t have any time limitations. This was not the main goal of the negotiations. For the Azerbaijani side, the idea was to have a comprehensive, strategically oriented agreement with our EU friends, beneficial for both sides. So, Azerbaijan was the first ever country to present its own draft for the bilateral agreement with the EU. When we started the negotiations, the EU side tabled a lot of changes. So, we worked not only on our proposal, but on the proposal of the EU side.
The EU side proposed to finalise these negotiations during the term of this Commission, with whom we have achieved substantial progress in our relations. It would be good idea to finalise these negotiations during this Commission, but it’s not our goal in itself."
Isgandarov noted that it is necessary to find a compromise way which would make both sides winners.
"I remember how happy the EU countries were when they signed the Mercosur agreement, after 20 years of negotiations. We don’t want to wait that much," he said.
"We see such speed in the global processes that any “bureaucratic matrix” approach doesn’t work anymore."
