The opening of Armenia’s borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan will bring Europe and Central Asia closer together and become a “game changer” for the European Union, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.
“In an increasingly fragmented world, the Transcaspian Transport Corridor will boost connections between your five countries and Europe,” von der Leyen said at the first EU-Central Asia Summit being held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Friday.
“But infrastructure is not everything,” she stressed. “Smooth border crossing with Central Asian and South Caucasus countries is also essential to reach the Black Sea.”
“After three decades of closure, the opening of the borders of Armenia with Turkey and Azerbaijan is going to be a game changer and it will bring Europe and Central Asia closer together like never before,” she emphasized.
Von der Leyen was quick to sign an expansive energy agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan soon after Russia’s military incursion into Ukraine, as a way to ensure the flow of gas to the bloc, which had cut its ties with Russia in protest of the war.
European lawmakers, however, have criticized the EU’s leadership for forsaking the bloc’s principles and partnering with Azerbaijan, whose authoritarian regime planned and executed ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Artsakh.
The EU and the United States have been vocally supporting a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan and have encouraged the government of both countries to sign a treaty as soon as possible.
It is evident, however, that their desire for a quick resolution to the conflict does not stem from the need for security in the region, but is rather advanced by economic considerations.
The resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and the resulting opening of Azerbaijan’s and Turkey’s borders with Armenia would significantly boost links between Europe and Central Asia, von der Leyen emphasized in Uzbekistan on Friday.
While visiting Yerevan last year, a senior Biden Administration official also emphasized that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan would not only end their long-running conflict but also reduce Russian influence in the region and facilitate a new trade route from Central Asia to Turkey.
