Azerbaijan Suspends Several Joint Projects with the European Union

Official Baku has suspended several joint projects with the European Union, Azerbaijani media report, citing diplomatic sources.

"These are the so-called Twinning projects, under which European officials have 'instructed' state structures in Azerbaijan on how to operate in accordance with European standards. The scheme operates as follows: a Twinning consultant is sent from an EU country to the respective state agency of the beneficiary country for the entire duration of the project—from 12 to 36 months—and supervises its activities. The work plan of the Twinning project typically includes short- and medium-term expert missions and training events.

Notably, Lithuania has been at the forefront of most of these projects, being described as 'the second most fervently pro-Armenian and anti-Azerbaijani state after France.' Consequently, Azerbaijan has halted three joint projects with Lithuania in the areas of law enforcement, healthcare, and social security,” Azerbaijani sources report.

“In many cases, the activity and curiosity of Lithuanian representatives in these key areas of government activity have crossed the line of cooperation and raised suspicions,” the source shares its assessment.

The Twinning projects in the field of migration with Sweden and Greece have also been suspended. The only exception made by Azerbaijan pertains to projects with Poland and Finland due to “the balanced positions of those countries.”

“Such projects may have made sense in the 1990s and early 2000s, but in 2023, when Azerbaijan is firmly on its feet, the 'teacher-student' relationship with the European Union is no longer acceptable for Baku. Moreover, such cooperation seems unlikely in light of the 'warnings' and 'clear signals' sent by Josep Borrell, the guardian of Armenian separatism. Regarding the exchange of experiences in improving the quality of governance with state structures of foreign countries, it should be noted that bilateral communications with friendly European countries have not been canceled. Furthermore, several high-tech Asian countries have long surpassed the EU in both the level of digitization and the effectiveness of administrative reforms. Thus, official Baku will find partners, but institutional cooperation with the EU on internal governance issues appears to be reaching its logical conclusion,” the source stated.