European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will visit Azerbaijan and Armenia next week, marking a high-profile diplomatic push to strengthen the EU’s role in the South Caucasus.
The EU confirmed that von der Leyen will arrive in Baku on July 1 before traveling to Yerevan for a two-day visit from July 2 to 3. Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos will join the delegation.
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In a video posted on X on Tuesday, Kos said Europe’s trade, energy and digital security now depends on building reliable routes through the Middle Corridor, which connects the two continents via Turkey and the South Caucasus.
“One fifth of our economy is trade,” Kos said, noting that European security now extends beyond traditional trade agreements to geography, infrastructure, energy links and data cables.
For years, Europe relied on two main routes to Asia: the northern passage through Russia and the southern route through the Red Sea and Suez Canal. But recent conflicts have made both less reliable, forcing ships around the Cape of Good Hope and pushing air traffic over the Caucasus.
“There is another way,” Kos said, pointing to the Middle Corridor.
Trade along the route has quadrupled since 2022, but transit times can still stretch to 45 days. The EU aims to cut that to 15 days by upgrading roads, railways, ports and border crossings.
Kos argued that the improvements would lower costs for European businesses, reduce prices for EU consumers and stimulate broader economic growth. She also linked the project to regional peace, suggesting that the Middle Corridor could support normalization between Azerbaijan and Armenia after decades of conflict.
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