Azerbaijan's international situation in depth at URJC

Daniel Blazquez

On February 10 and 11, the Quintana campus of the URJC was the chosen venue for an interesting seminar on the situation of Azerbaijan on the international scene. The main objective of the event was to learn about the frameworks of concentration and cooperation of this country in foreign policy, with special attention to its relations with the European Union and Spain.

The opening of the event, on Monday morning, was attended by Ángeles Cano, Deputy Vice-Rector for International Relations, and Nadir Sarajili, representative of the Embassy of Azerbaijan, within the framework of an agreement between this institution and the URJC. This first day, which began with a presentation on the challenges and issues facing the Caucasian country by Carlos Fernández, Professor of Public International Law at UC3M, was completed with two discussion panels, in which various aspects related to the history of the nation and its current position in economic and energy matters were discussed. In this regard, the intervention of Azerbaijani experts from the 'AIR Center' can be highlighted.

On Tuesday, Elena Díaz Galán, director of the seminar and Professor of Public International Law and International Relations at the URJC, spoke. After the event, the professor pointed out the importance of this “unique opportunity to advance from an academic point of view in relations with Azerbaijan and to make the reality of this country known on the international scene.” Along these lines, “the congress has opened a path in the academic relationship with Azerbaijan, both from the point of view of teaching and from that of research,” she concluded.

Student participation, key

Throughout all the activities, it is worth highlighting the involvement of numerous students from various Madrid universities; especially, from the URJC students. In this regard, Álvaro Colino, from the degree in Business Management in the Digital Field, has highlighted “the high level of the speakers, which has been of great help in understanding issues such as the viability of the decarbonisation process in a country so economically dependent on hydrocarbons or the evolution of the conflict in Upper Karabakh”. In short, as this recent graduate states, the congress “has allowed us to learn about a country as interesting as Azerbaijan, which often goes unnoticed due to its geographical remoteness”.

On the other hand, the Embassy of Azerbaijan also showed a special interest in strengthening relations in the educational and cultural fields, with the aim of further deepening relations between this Asian country and Spain.