Azerbaijan Has Not Joined European Political Community Summit Documents Entailing Additional Commitments, Says MFA Spokesperson

Baku, The Gulf Observer: Azerbaijan has not joined several documents endorsed by some participating states at the 9th Summit of the European Political Community (EPC) in Dublin, as they entail additional legal and political commitments, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aykhan Hajizada said.

Responding to a media inquiry about the documents adopted at the summit, Hajizada said that on November 12, during the European Political Community Summit in Dublin, a number of participating states endorsed the Declaration on Key Principles of European Security, the Statement on Migration, and the Statement of the European Coalition Against Drugs, which had been initiated by some countries.

EPC an Informal Platform for Dialogue

The spokesperson stressed that the European Political Community was established as an informal platform for dialogue, aimed at promoting mutual trust and cooperation among countries.

He said Azerbaijan’s participation in the EPC is intended to facilitate an exchange of views on matters of common interest, discuss approaches to shared challenges, and explore opportunities to further strengthen cooperation with participating countries.

“Accordingly, Azerbaijan has not joined the aforementioned documents that entail additional legal and political commitments,” Hajizada said.

Azerbaijan’s Engagement at the Dublin Summit

The clarification came after Azerbaijan’s active participation in the Dublin summit, where President Ilham Aliyev took part in a roundtable discussion titled “Building a Competitive Europe – Innovation, Connectivity and Affordable Energy.” During the session, he highlighted Azerbaijan’s growing role in Europe’s energy security, including increased natural gas supplies to the European Union.

Launched in 2022, the European Political Community brings together leaders from across the European continent, including European Union member states and non-EU countries, to discuss common challenges such as security, energy, connectivity and migration in an informal setting. Its summits do not produce binding decisions for all participants, and individual states may choose whether to associate themselves with documents initiated by particular countries.

Azerbaijan’s position reflects its approach of using the European Political Community as a forum for dialogue and cooperation, while not assuming new legal or political obligations through documents initiated by individual participating states.