Azerbaijan submitted on Tuesday, August 20, the official application for joining the BRICS group, as announced by the representative of the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aykan Khajizada.
Baku’s intention to become a member of BRICS was already reflected in a joint declaration of strategic cooperation between Azerbaijan and China, which was signed on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Astana in early July.
Moreover, Azerbaijan’s Parliament Speaker Sahiba Gafarova had stated during the 10th BRICS Parliamentary Session in St. Petersburg that her country wishes to become a full member of BRICS.
At the same time, natural gas flows from Azerbaijan to the European Union have increased dramatically in recent times.
Of course, the EU is only interested in being able to gloat about TAP’s “American” natural gas, despite the fact that the reality in this case belies the political agenda, as more than 50% of the gas passing through the pipeline comes from Russia !
This pipeline is a huge geopolitical gain for Azerbaijan, as Turkish Stream is for Turkey, but both have one thing in common: they are constant reminders of Greece’s failure to take the energy position it was offered by Russia.
Specifically, the Greek governments of Papandreou and Samara, respectively, not only handed over South Stream to Turkey without any substantial pressure, to be built as Turkish Stream, but also sealed a world first: the Samara government signed the first agreement to collect zero transportation fees in natural gas pipeline!
European diplomacy, as an extension of EU policy in the region, but also as a political position, has failed at every level, with Russia practicing realpolitik with the “weapon” of energy, while Turkey and Azerbaijan “embrace” with the Moscow.
