In Azerbaijan, the special quarantine regime has been extended until 06:00 on July 1, 2024. This decision was made by Prime Minister Ali Assadov on 11 March, when he signed a resolution to extend the regime. The special quarantine regime was initially put in place in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the World Health Organization lifting the pandemic status a year ago, the government has not provided an explanation for the extension of the quarantine regime. Currently, the only restriction that remains in force in Azerbaijan is the closure of land borders with neighboring countries such as Russia, Georgia, Iran, and Armenia.
This extension follows a previous one in December 2023, which was effective until April 2, 2024. According to the Georgian Ministry of Economy, the closure of the land border with Azerbaijan has resulted in a loss of $400 million and prevented 1.5 million tourists from visiting Georgia.
Mariam Kvrivishvili, the Deputy Minister of Economy of Georgia, stated that the closed border has hindered Georgia’s recovery of tourist flows after the pandemic. Before the pandemic, travel between Azerbaijan and Georgia was possible by air, buses, and trains. However, for almost four years, travel has only been possible by air due to the closed border.
Some experts believe that Azerbaijan is keeping its borders shut due to threats from neighboring countries like Iran and Russia. They also claim that while there is a demand in Azerbaijan to open the border with Georgia for Azerbaijanis living in the neighboring country to visit their relatives, the government cannot selectively open the border only with Georgia without having to explain why it is not opening borders with other countries.
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