EU hopes for compromise in adoption of Eastern Partnership Summit's Brussels Declaration

The European Union hopes a compromise will be achieved during the adoption of the declaration at the Eastern Partnership Summit to be held in Brussels, said Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations.

The European Union hopes a compromise will be achieved during the adoption of the declaration at the Eastern Partnership Summit to be held in Brussels, said Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations.

He made the remarks during a media roundtable held as part of the 4th Eastern Partnership Business Forum Digital Economy: Innovative Platform for Transparent Borderless Business in Tallinn.

Hahn was responding to Trend question whether the Eastern Partnership’s Brussels Declaration will have the same issues reflected in the 2015 Riga Declaration, which, at the time, caused Azerbaijan’s discontent.

Azerbaijan’s main discontent with the Riga Declaration is that it doesn’t indicate that the NagornoKarabakh conflict should be settled in line with the international law, including the UN Security Council’s resolutions.

Recalling the last Eastern Partnership Summit in Riga, the commissioner said that everyone should take lesson from the last summit in order to avoid some disagreements.

"I advise always to refrain as much as possible from confrontational languages and really focus on concrete deliverables which is in the fundamental interest of citizens. I hope we can find a compromise between our basic needs. I think it is achievable," he added.

Hahn noted that negotiations are underway with six countries on the declaration.

"I expect that this declaration can be concluded hopefully by mid-November," noted the commissioner.

He went on to add that problems have not changed from the last summit and even not from the summit before the last summit.

"These are well known. We will not resolve this kind of conflicts and problems with such a declaration," he concluded. Azerbaijan-EU new partnership agreement

Commenting on an approximate time for completing the negotiations between Azerbaijan and the EU, Hahn said that the talks on the new partnership agreement should be completed in a couple of months.

The new agreement should replace the 1996 partnership and cooperation agreement and should better take account of the shared objectives and challenges the EU and Azerbaijan face today.

"We are currently negotiating. It took some time to clarify the scope of this agreement. I am confident that it should be achieved within the next couple of months," added the commissioner.

As for the title of the new agreement, Hahn noted that it will be decided as a result of the negotiations. The title of the agreement is a message in its own, added the commissioner.

Earlier, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud MammadGuliyev said that, this is a legal document that must be in force for 15 years, therefore, negotiations are conducted in a tense atmosphere.

He also noted we cannot be expected the signing of an agreement at the EU Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels on November 24.

“The talks began five months ago, in the summer there was a break, then negotiations resumed. Some issues are progressing in some negotiations, some issues still require discussion. Therefore, the allegations that the signing of the agreement will take place in Brussels do not correspond to reality,” he said.

The first meeting on a new agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan was held in Brussels on February 7, 2017.

Meanwhile, the next round of talks on the comprehensive agreement scheduled for November 6-7 in Brussels, said Denis Daniilidis, Head of Political, Economics and Press and Information Section of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan.

He noted that the political chapter of the agreement will be discussed during the meeting.