BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. The process of
normalization between Azerbaijan and Armenia is a new era for the
South Caucasus and Europe, Director of the LINKS Europe Foundation,
Dennis Sammut, said, Trend's correspondent reports from the event.
Sammut made the remark during the round table on
"European-Azerbaijani relations: assessment of historical
experience and future directions of cooperation" held jointly by
the Center for the Analysis of International Relations and
Multiculturalism and the LINKS Europe Foundation.
He noted that the leading organization of Europe is the European
Union (EU). It is a free union of 27 member states.
"The EU has made many mistakes in its relations with Azerbaijan.
The late opening of the representation here is an example of this.
Some approaches from the European Parliament and certain circles in
some member states have not always been understandable even to
me.
EU-Azerbaijan relations have suffered from a lack of proper
dialogue, which has resulted in many misconceptions and wrong
ideas," he said.
Sammut added that the situation was very different when he was
in Azerbaijan for the first time 30 years ago.
"At that time, the lands of Azerbaijan were occupied by Armenia.
Karabakh was on the country's agenda. However, this 30-year problem
has now been resolved; Karabakh has returned to Azerbaijan," he
noted.
The main purpose of the round table is to discuss the current
state and development prospects of European-Azerbaijani relations,
to review the results and lessons learned from historical
experience, and to assess the existing opportunities for
strengthening closer and more effective cooperation in the
future.
