by AzerNews Staff
Serbia marks its Statehood Day today with the usual mix of
ceremony and symbolism. Flags line Belgrade’s boulevards, speeches
dwell on sovereignty and continuity, and history is pressed into
service for the present. Yet this year, the celebrations carry an
added diplomatic undertone: the visit of Ilham Aliyev, timed
deliberately to Serbia’s national holiday, a gesture Belgrade reads
as respect, and Baku as strategy.
Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Serbia were formally
established in the late 1990s, but it was only in the past decade
that the relationship acquired real political weight. Since the
signing of the declaration on friendship and strategic partnership
in Baku in the early 2010s, the two countries have quietly
constructed a dense web of ties: political, economic,
energy-related and increasingly symbolic. That architecture has
since been reinforced by joint action plans, a bilateral strategic
partnership council, and a rhythm of regular high-level visits.
Personal diplomacy has mattered. President Aliyev has visited
Serbia several times, while Aleksandar Vučić has made multiple
trips to Azerbaijan in return. The two leaders were most recently
seen together on a Davos stage, discussing Eurasia’s economic
identity, a phrase that neatly captures how both countries see
themselves: neither core nor periphery, but connective tissue.
That political alignment rests on a rare symmetry of positions.
Serbia has consistently supported Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and
territorial integrity. Azerbaijan, in turn, has refused to
recognise Kosovo and has objected to its representation in
international fora. In an international system where neutrality is
often rhetorical, this has been a case of mutual clarity.
The dividends are increasingly material. Trade flows between the
two countries remain modest by global standards, but they are
broad-based and politically supported. Azerbaijani exports to
Serbia range from natural gas and refined fuels to agricultural
products and industrial goods. Serbian exports back include
pharmaceuticals, machinery, plastics and foodstuffs, the kind of
trade basket that signals complementarity rather than dependency.
Intergovernmental economic cooperation mechanisms, in place for
more than a decade, have provided a bureaucratic spine to these
exchanges.
Energy has become the relationship’s strategic core. As Europe
redraws its gas map, Azerbaijan has positioned itself as a reliable
supplier, and Serbia, heavily dependent on imported energy, has
emerged as a key partner in south-east Europe. Gas deliveries via
the Bulgaria–Serbia interconnector, operational since the
mid-2020s, have turned political declarations into physical flows.
Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR has supplied Serbia not
only with gas but also with refined fuels, while plans for a
jointly built gas-fired power plant near Niš point to a longer-term
energy compact.
The relationship is no longer confined to hydrocarbons. Serbian
construction companies have expressed interest in working in
Azerbaijan’s recently liberated territories, while Serbian-invested
firms are already operating in the Azerbaijani market. Tourism,
too, has moved from memoranda to timetables: from May, Air Serbia
is expected to launch direct flights between Belgrade and Baku,
reducing both distance and abstraction.
Soft power has followed. Cities such as Shusha and Novi Pazar
have signed cooperation agreements spanning culture, urban planning
and education. Azerbaijan has confirmed its participation in EXPO
2027, to be held in Belgrade, while Serbian military
representatives have taken part in commemorations marking
Azerbaijan’s wartime victory, a signal of trust in a sensitive
domain.
What distinguishes this partnership is not scale, but coherence.
Both states occupy geopolitical fault lines. Both place a premium
on sovereignty. Both seek partners who treat them as actors rather
than arenas. In that sense, today’s visit is less about ceremony
than about calibration: aligning interests across energy security,
connectivity and regional stability at a time when Europe’s old
assumptions are fraying.
Serbia’s national day celebrates statehood. Azerbaijan’s
presence underlines something subtler, that in a fragmented Europe,
influence increasingly belongs to those who show up, stay
consistent and build partnerships that endure beyond headlines.