Hikmat Hajiyev: EU has not yet defined its strategic goals in the region

The European Union still has not defined its strategic goals in the region, Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, said during a panel discussion titled "The Middle Corridor: A New Geopolitical and Economic Lifeline?" at GLOBSEC 2025.

Report quotes him as saying Azerbaijan needs not assistance, but a fully-fledged cooperation and partnership.

"We have our own investment capabilities and strong partnerships. Look at the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars project, implemented in cooperation with Türkiye, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Frankly, when we started this project, European and American funds stopped financing it. Nevertheless, we decided to implement it with our own resources and successfully completed it. We have also connected all our major transport infrastructure with our partners in Central Asia. Currently, together with China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, we are building a railway system that will create a short 900-kilometer route to Central Asia," he said.

Hikmat Hajiyev stressed that all these processes are coordinated through the Trans-Caspian route: "But now I have a question: Where is the European Union? Yes, you can join us as a partner, but we still do not see a clear understanding of what the EU wants. TRACECA is an important project that made a contribution, but it's a bit like putting old wine in a new bottle. We need new wine in a new bottle — a new approach, a new strategy."