They took up arms: Prague and Baku combined their defense plans

The Czech Republic is increasing its energy and defense partnership with the countries of the South Caucasus and Central Asia. Prime Minister Andrei Babish is touring Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The main topic of the meetings will be the prospects for increasing oil and natural gas supplies to a European country, as well as defense cooperation. Izvestia found out how much this could threaten the interests of the Russian Federation.

I came with a large delegation

"Azerbaijan is a strategic partner of the Czech Republic, and therefore I am making my first visit here outside the European Union," Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babis said at the Azerbaijani—Czech business forum held in Gabala with the participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Azerbaijan became the first stop during the tour of the head of the Czech government. After that, Babish headed to Kazakhstan, where, as the prime minister himself noted, "there is oil." The foreign trip will end in Uzbekistan on April 30, where he will also meet with the country's leadership and representatives of the business community.

The Prime Minister is accompanied by Minister of Trade and Industry Karel Havlicek, as well as an impressive delegation consisting of more than 50 entrepreneurs, mainly from the defense and aviation industries, energy, transport and infrastructure.

Among them are Daniel Benes, CEO of the energy giant CEZ, representatives of the Skoda Group, a company that seeks to participate in a tender for the supply of trains for the Baku metro, as well as explosives and ammunition manufacturer Explosion a.s.

The Czech Prime Minister and the Azerbaijani leader have known each other for a long time, in January they met on the sidelines of the Davos Forum, where Aliyev invited Babish to pay an official visit to the republic.

As the special representative of the President of Azerbaijan, Elchin Amirbekov, noted, Baku sees the Czech Republic as a valuable partner due to its industrial power, technological expertise, as well as membership in the European Union and NATO.

In turn, Azerbaijan can become a gateway for the Czech side to strategically important regions — the South Caucasus and Central Asia. "For decades we have been playing a key role in Europe's energy security and have become a hub country in terms of regional connectivity," Amirbekov stressed.

Baku and Prague became strategic partners in 2015. Last year, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic exceeded $814.73 million. The Czech Republic ranks sixth among Azerbaijan's export counterparties and fourth among EU countries.

For oil and gas

The main purpose of the current meeting is negotiations on gas and oil supplies. "Now I am paying close attention to this issue," the head of the Czech government said on the eve of the visit. He added that he had already held talks with the American oil giant, and then talked with representatives of a similar company from France.

During the meeting with Aliyev, Babis noted that Baku is one of the largest oil suppliers to the Czech Republic. Last year, Azerbaijan became the main importer of these raw materials to the country, providing 42% of the total supply.

"Azerbaijan is in the center of global attention. The potential here is huge. In addition to oil, Azerbaijan can also become a strategic partner in the gas sector," the Czech Prime Minister stressed, adding that the Czech Republic would seek to conclude a contract for the supply of natural gas.

However, in order to increase gas supplies to new consumers, Azerbaijan, according to experts, will need serious investments — both in the development of new deposits and in expanding the capacity of the existing infrastructure. The Southern Gas Corridor, the main artery of exports to Europe, is currently fully loaded.

The Czech Republic, which has long been focused on Russian hydrocarbons, in 2022 set a course to abandon them and accelerate the expansion of the geography of purchases. Getting rid of "Russian dependence" resulted in a spike in fuel prices, and the outbreak of the Middle East conflict only worsened the situation on the domestic market. That is why the energy agenda has become the core of the negotiations between the two leaders.

The economy, nothing more

Aliyev also recalled that the republic purchases defense products from the Czech Republic, and the parties are currently working on specific projects in the field of joint production.

The President expressed confidence that the scale of cooperation will only grow, adding: "As Azerbaijan builds up its defense potential, including through local production, our future cooperation with countries with rich experience in this field, such as the Czech Republic, becomes particularly important."

The day before, representatives of the military departments of the two countries held talks on bilateral military cooperation. They discussed a wide range of issues: industrial partnership in the defense sector, joint maneuvers, personnel training, cybersecurity and regional stability. Following the meeting, representatives of the two countries signed a plan for military cooperation.

At the same time, according to Azerbaijani political scientist, Doctor of Economics Ilgar Velizade, the military-technical cooperation between the two countries has no military-political coloring.

— This is a de-ideologized collaboration. It's about military technology, about benefits, about increasing order portfolios. This is not building any constructs within the framework of NATO or NATO Plus, this is a pure economy," the expert told Izvestia.

He added that the Czech Republic, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have their own military-industrial complex.

"They are trying to cooperate in the production of weapons, but also in the replacement of those types of weapons that they need, but which they cannot sufficiently purchase on foreign markets," the expert explained.

According to the expert, now a number of European Union states are demonstrating a steady interest not only in the South Caucasus, but also in neighboring regions.

— Firstly, it is explained by internal political factors. In many of these states, more autonomous and sovereign forces have come to power, which are less influenced by Brussels and are oriented towards building independent relations in their foreign policy steps. This strengthens their positions in Europe and internationally, and increases their economic stability," the analyst explained.

Secondly, Azerbaijan and the countries of Central Asia are actively developing, building their communication with individual states of the European Union, he added.

"There is a desire to integrate into this mainstream, but with its own set of competitive advantages, so this visit by Babish is dictated by purely practical interests," the political scientist pointed out.

It does not meet the interests of Russia

What is happening fits into the West's long-term strategy to squeeze Russia out of its traditional markets. The country's gas and oil monopoly is being dealt the most painful blow.

In addition, the countries of the region, not wanting to fall under secondary sanctions, are increasingly willing to engage in direct contacts with the EU, diversifying their foreign relations, which also affects Moscow's interests.

The most serious problem is that there is a quiet rearmament of the post-Soviet space. Russia has long been the main weapons arsenal for many CIS countries, but now other players are taking its place. For the defense industry of the Russian Federation, this is the loss of contracts and, more importantly, squeezing out of the market, where Russian technology has traditionally formed standards. In addition, rearmament with the help of a NATO country changes the balance of power and creates risks that did not exist before.