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.
