Von der Leyen proposed an EU‑Azerbaijan connectivity partnership and said the EU would provide up to €200 million in Global Gateway grants for transport, energy and digital projects, funding that could help mobilize up to €2 billion in public and private investment. Aliyev said gas exports to EU member states had risen by around 65% since the 2022 energy memorandum with Brussels, with 10 EU countries now importing Azerbaijani gas. The visit comes in the wake of a US-brokered Armenia-Azerbaijan peace plan initialed in Washington last year, which laid out terms for normalizing relations after decades of conflict rooted in the Nagorno‑Karabakh dispute. Von der Leyen also announced a €20-million program for border communities, including healthcare, mine clearance, rural development and support for small businesses. She travels to Yerevan on Thursday for talks with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
