Why does Russia need the Consulate General in Azerbaijan? Comments from Baku
Russia to open consulate general in Azerbaijan
Russia intends to open a consulate general in Azerbaijan, as announced at a meeting of the leadership of the Russian parliament with Azerbaijani colleagues. According to political observer Elkhan Shahinoglu, Baku must set a tough condition — a consulate general in exchange for the withdrawal of peacekeepers. Another analyst believes that there is no special need of a consulatein Azerbaijan.
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During a meeting in Moscow with the speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament Sahiba Gafarova, the chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, Valentina Matviyenko, said that the opening of the Russian Consulate General in Azerbaijan would be a good example of alliance between the countries.
At present the embassy of the Russian Federation in Azerbaijan functions in Baku. There are no other diplomatic representations of Russia in the country.
“Only in exchange for the withdrawal of peacekeepers”
Elkhan Shahinoglu, a political scientist and head of the Atlas analytical center, believes that Matviyenko asked Azerbaijan for permission to open a consulate general allegedly to strengthen cooperation:
“Before meeting with Valentina Matviyenko, Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova met with Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the State Duma. Volodin directly threatened Yerevan with ‘the loss of the country.’ So, according to him, Armenia should be careful with statements in the direction of European institutions. He even cited Ukraine, Yugoslavia and other countries as an example of what those who look to the West can expect.
In this way, through Volodin, the Kremlin showed its dissatisfaction with the actions of Nikol Pashinyan. Because Pahinyan’s invitation of observers from Europe to his country is contrary to the interests of Moscow. Such a course of events is in the interests of official Baku.”
Shahinoglu said that despite this, the proposal to open a consulate general in Azerbaijan should be seriously considered:
“In all likelihood, they will want to open a consulate general in the second most important city of Azerbaijan — Ganja. In this Russia does not want to lag behind Turkey, which already has a consulate general in Ganja.
It is hard to imagine that Baku will respond soon to this proposal, as Russia only has an embassy in Azerbaijan.
Once before Russia has used its agent network for a riot in Azerbaijan. This was a good lesson for us. Therefore there is no need to hurry.
Although the Kremlin calls Azerbaijan its ally, it definitely supports separatism in a particular region of the country, invites the leaders of the Karabakh separatists to itself, and gives them instructions unknown to us. Such a policy can hardly be called friendly to Azerbaijan.
Baku may hint to the Kremlin that permission for the Consulate General in Azerbaijan will be given only if Russia withdraws its peacekeeping contingent from Karabakh in 2025.”
“There is no need for the Consulate General”
According to political observer Gadzhi Namazov, there is no practical need for the Russian Consulate General in Azerbaijan:
“There is a visa-free policy between Azerbaijan and Russia, and it seems like no one applies for visas to the Russian embassy in Baku anyway.
But if you think about other documents that citizens of the Russian Federation who are in Azerbaijan may suddenly need, our country is not that big. From Ganja it’s a few hours to Baku, and you can resolve all issues in the embassy.
Yes, Azerbaijan has a consulate general in Yekaterinburg because hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis live and work in Siberia, and if there is no consulate they would have to fly to Moscow to solve elementary bureaucratic problems. Russia is a huge country in terms of area, and the existence of a consulate general is justified there. But why does Moscow need a consulate general in Azerbaijan?
Most of the employees of diplomatic missions don’t do only diplomatic work. This is common knowledge. But Russia, if desired, can introduce an agent network into Azerbaijan without such sophisticated methods. Dozens of Russian organizations and companies work in our country. So it’s not a suggestion either.
What else is left? Just a matter of image and representation. This, I believe, is not of paramount importance either to Moscow or to Baku.”
