Since reaching their low point in the aftermath of a 24-hour Azerbaijani operation in Karabakh in September 2023, Azerbaijan-EU relations have gathered real momentum over the past couple years, marked by a level of engagement the two sides have not seen since the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement was signed three decades ago. Between April 2025 and July 2026, the EU's High Representative, its Enlargement Commissioner, its Special Representative for the South Caucasus, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission all travelled to Baku. Negotiations on a new bilateral agreement, stalled since 2017, resumed. Brussels announced grants and financing packages for connectivity in the South Caucasus and began speaking about Azerbaijan in the language of strategic partnership rather than conditionality. Official Baku is now talking about an “unprecedented phase of dynamism” in bilateral ties. 

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