President of the "France-Armenia Friendship Group" Gilbert-Luc Devinaz, French senators Brigitte Deveza, Pierre Ouzoulias and Étienne Blanc, who visited Yerevan a short time ago, made accusations against Azerbaijan. Calling Europe a hypocrite, Senator Pierre Ouzoulias accused the EU of buying Russian gas through Azerbaijan. Quote: "Azerbaijan supplies additional oil to Europe through the gas pipeline to Turkiye's Mediterranean port, and we know that some of this oil comes from Russia. Europe again forgets its moral principles to satisfy its oil demand."

Fact Check Lab. has investigated this claim.

First of all, no gas route network can ensure the access of Russian gas to Europe through the territory of Azerbaijan. The North Stream - 2 and Turkish Stream routes, which provide gas transportation from Russia to Europe, pass hundreds of kilometers beyond the geographical borders of Azerbaijan.

The TAP pipeline, the main line of the Southern Gas Corridor and the only pipeline supplying Azerbaijani gas to Europe, runs through the territories of Georgia, Turkiye, Greece, Albania and Italy. There are no lines and infrastructures connecting this Western route with Russian gas pipelines - it is absolutely impossible from a geographical point of view.

Gilbert-Luc Devinaz, the president of the France-Armenia Friendship Group, joined the accusations and claimed that in the background of European sanctions against Russia, along with Russian gas, oil was delivered to Europe through Azerbaijan.

Let's clarify this claim. In fact, there is nothing to clarify here. It is known that the only oil pipeline between Azerbaijan and Russia is the Baku-Novorossiysk (Northern route) pipeline, which transports not Russian oil, but Azerbaijani oil (only 1-1.5 million tons per year). In other words, Russian oil does not enter Azerbaijan.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan route is the only pipeline carrying out the transportation of Azerbaijani oil to Europe. This pipeline passes through the territory of Georgia to the port of Ceyhan in Turkiye, and from there, the oil goes to the European markets through the Mediterranean Sea. The daily throughput of the pipeline is 1.2 million barrels. (source)

Senator Étienne Blanc, referring to the gas agreement signed by the European Union with Azerbaijan 2 months ago, called it a wrong decision for the EU. The senator said that on behalf of France, he would raise the issue of applying sanctions against gas and oil supplies before the European Commission.

In fact, we have come across some French senators opposing the energy cooperation between the European Commission and Azerbaijan, accusing the EU and repeatedly trying to discredit the Southern Gas Corridor at various events and in the media. But the European Union (EU) attaches particular importance to specific relations, not to the statements of French, Canadian, and American senators. The energy policy of the union is determined by vast energy corporations and influential energy commissioners.

The President of the European Commission, Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen, who visited Azerbaijan on July 18, 2022 and signed the "Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Partnership between Azerbaijan and the European Union in the energy field " with President Ilham Aliyev. Her "We have decided to turn to more reliable and trustworthy partners and I am happy to count Azerbaijan among them" statement is an exclamation mark for future long-term energy cooperation.

Mrs. Leyen stated that the EC will double the volume of gas supplied from Azerbaijan to the European Union. Through this Memorandum, the EC is committed to the expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor. It is already a vital supply route for the European Union.

Ursula von der Leyen, speaking at the meeting of the EU's Emergency Energy Council held in Brussels in early September, once again drew attention to the fact that Azerbaijan is a very important partner in Europe's energy security, and touched on Azerbaijan's place in the family of reliable suppliers for the EU.

Kadri Simson, the commissioner for energy issues of the European Union, has repeatedly stated that Azerbaijan has an important place among the countries involved in the future long-term gas supply of the EU. Ms. Simson believes that the new pipeline connection providing gas transportation of Azerbaijan to the West will help the EU to replace a significant part of the gas transported from Russia. (source)

At the meeting of the Emergency Energy Council of the European Union held in Brussels on September 8, one can find the opinions of not only EU officials, but also the energy ministers of many European countries regarding the important place and position of Azerbaijan in the new gas supply platform. At that event, Kadri Simson once again called Azerbaijan a new energy door opened for Europe and declared that they plan to renew the energy dialogue with Azerbaijan in the coming weeks. (source)

In an interview with Euronews TV on September 23, the European energy commissioner again mentioned the crucial position of Azerbaijan in the energy and gas map of the EU.

At the 48th International Chernobyl Forum, held on September 2 in Chernobyl, Italy, by the think tank The European House - Ambrosetti under the theme “Intelligence on the World, Europe and Italy” and “Today's and tomorrow's scenario for competitive strategies,” European energy security was once again ensured. The increasing strategic role of Azerbaijan was specially touched upon. It was emphasized that the gas transported to Europe through the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) within the Southern Gas Corridor opened a new page in the fuel supply of the EU.

The reality is that the European Union wants to buy more oil and gas from Azerbaijan, and in the future it is working on increasing the capacity of TAP to at least 20 billion cubic meters. (source)

By 2030, it is planned to transport gas through the Southern Gas Corridor to at least 22.5 billion cubic meters, and in 2040 to 25 billion cubic meters and more. In short, the EU intends to mobilize all potential opportunities for the transportation of Azerbaijani gas. (source)

As it can be seen, the determined and concrete position and policy of the EU regarding Azerbaijan is known to the whole world, the main goal is to double the power of Azerbaijan’s energy routes and the volume of gas in the coming decades. No matter how many pro-Armenian Europeans, including French senators, try to write complaints to the Eurocommissioner, it is useless, they will have to see Azerbaijan's expanding geography on the world energy map for a long time.