EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos has signed an agreement to establish a High-Level Economic Working Group with Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov during her visit to Baku this week.
Writing on X on September 19, Kos stated that “peace in the region opens up opportunities for markets, trade and investment. To seize them, we agreed to establish a High-Level Economic Working Group. We’ll continue to strengthen our partnership.” In turn, Minister Jabbarov wrote on X that the two sides discussed investments in energy, digital economy and transport. The minister stressed that these projects are carried out as part of the “EU’s new global strategy for interaction, Global Gateway”. Furthermore, he noted the Financing Agreement between Azerbaijan and the EU, which will be dedicated to “support for mine action and sustainable development” in the water and transport sectors. Kos’ South Caucasus visit will also see her visit to Armenia but not Georgia.
During the visit, Kos met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, during which she hailed the “successful establishment of energy cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan, underlining the significant prospects for further collaboration in the transport sector.” For his part, Aliyev reminded that Azerbaijani gas is currently exported to 10 European countries, including eight EU member states, and that the export geography is expanding.
Furthermore, the sides discussed the increase in the volume of cargo transported from Central Asia to Azerbaijan via the Middle Corridor - the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. Cargo on this route moves through the China–Kazakhstan–Turkmenistan–Azerbaijan–Georgia–Turkey–Europe path. By mid-2025, the amount of goods coming to Azerbaijan from Central Asia had grown substantially, and the pace of transport along the corridor had increased. It should be noted that Aliyev has described Zangezur corridor (projected to link Azerbaijan to its exclave Nakhchivan via Armenia) as “a major contribution to the Trans-Caspian route”.
Elsewhere during the visit, the sides agreed upon a meeting between Kos and chair of the board of the Azerbaijan Women’s Entrepreneurship Development Association Sakina Babayeva for the presentation of 3‑year strategy to promote women's entrepreneurship. Report news agency quoted Babayev as saying that “the plan will focus on strengthening women's entrepreneurship, improving psychological resilience in business, creating new jobs, and supporting innovative business initiatives.”
In early September, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Magdalena Grono also visited Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan exclave.
Azerbaijan's ties with the European Union have entered a new stage following the conclusion of the 2020 Karabakh war with Armenia. In the energy sector, a memorandum signed in 2022 outlines the foundations of a strategic partnership and aims to increase the Southern Gas Corridor's capacity to 20 billion cubic meters annually by 2027.
