Security challenges in the South Caucasus?!

· Protracted conflicts in the region undermine the overall security environment. They lead to arms race, socio-economic burden for the Governments, and human right problems. The conflicts divert the efforts from the region-oriented projects for the sake of the people’s prosperity to the clashes, which drive the region apart;

· External pressures by the neighboring countries lead to the complicated geopolitical circumstances, which may frighten foreign investment and impede democratization processes. Even though the recent time pressures are mostly of the economic nature (e.g. rise in gas prices), some military-related actions by Iran on and over the Caspian took place in 2001 and 2002 (warship and aircraft penetrations);

· Unresolved status of the Caspian sea keeps the regional inter-state relations tense and prevent overwhelming development of the existing opportunities. The main issue remains positions of Iran and Turkmenistan, who do not want to join other littoral states in the medium line-resolution;

· Asymmetric threats of terrorism, WMD proliferation, drugs, human and other trafficking divert resources from the social projects to fighting these menaces. The existence of the grey zones as a result of the protracted conflicts creates favorable conditions for flourishing these very dangerous activities;

· Secure transportation of the energy resources to the world markets may bring needed revenues for the development of the region and will diversify energy supplies to the European markets. There were many warnings before and during construction of BTC and BTE pipelines, and problems in proper functioning of these pipelines through attacks, sabotage or other actions can harm both regional and European interests;

· EU-Azerbaijan relations should develop in fighting all afore-mentioned challenges in close cooperation with other organizations and countries. It is important to concert the efforts with NATO, OSCE, Council of Europe, as well as individual countries, including United States, Turkey, and Russia.

Tahir and Khazar