Sajjad Karim, author. – Mr. President, allow me to start with a quote from an old – but not that old – Strasbourg speech from 14 years ago: ‘Azerbaijan has definitely chosen the road of integration into Europe, getting orientated towards its humanistic and democratic values’ – wise words indeed from President Heydar Aliyev in 2001.

And yet EU-Azerbaijan relations are a story of disappointments, and – let us be honest – probably mutual disappointments. We know, for instance, that Azerbaijan is frustrated with the lack of progress over Nagorno-Karabakh. We also know that it feels that, far too often, the international community disregards the challenges it has had to face in the aftermath of this war in terms of refugees and internally displaced persons. It is true that the international community has probably not been as active as it could have been in solving this protracted conflict which is still, as we speak, claiming lives.

But two wrongs do not make a right, and when Azerbaijan joined the Council of Europe our hope was that it shared our attachment to human rights and fundamental freedoms. As we see today, this hope has been replaced by, to put it mildly, strong concerns.

As a friend of Azerbaijan and its people, on a principled position, it is simple and clear: we want Azerbaijan to return to its path towards a European future.