Germany and Azerbaijan have agreed to strengthen their energy partnership, with Azerbaijani leaders calling for renewed European financial support to build new gas pipelines.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz received Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev with full military honours at the chancellery in Berlin before signing a new strategic cooperation agenda that covers bilateral energy flows.
Speaking at a joint press conference, Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that Germany remains committed to diversifying its energy sources in close partnership with Baku.
Azerbaijan has taken on an increasingly prominent role as an energy partner for European nations searching for alternatives to Russian fossil fuels since the outbreak of conflict in Ukraine.
Global energy security has faced further complications following hostilities in the Middle East and surrounding maritime trade routes, particularly near the Strait of Hormuz.
President Ilham Aliyev noted that, while Baku started direct gas deliveries to Germany earlier this year, expanding supply volumes will require significant infrastructure investment.
He pointed out that major delivery networks, including the Trans Adriatic Pipeline and the Trans Anatolian Pipeline, are currently running at maximum capacity.
Although capacity along the Trans Adriatic route could theoretically be doubled, President Ilham Aliyev stressed that doing so would demand substantial capital investment.
The European Investment Bank decided in 2019 to end funding for fossil fuel infrastructure to focus on green projects, a policy decision the Azerbaijani leader urged European institutions to reconsider.
President Ilham Aliyev argued that worsening geopolitical stability in the Middle East and damage to international refining facilities make infrastructure investment urgent.
Regional conflicts have disrupted operations for top natural gas exporters such as Qatar, triggering sharp price increases across international markets.
Economic analysts from the Ifo Institute in Munich warned that sustained fuel price spikes linked to shipping disruptions could reduce German economic growth by 0.4 percentage points over the next two years.
