According to data from the State Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan, the overall inflation rate in the country stood at 5.6% during the period from January to April 2026, while food inflation was recorded at 6.7%. According to official reports, in April—compared to the previous month—prices rose for such staple food products as buckwheat, meat and meat products, cheese, margarine, corn oil, lemons, bananas, apples, kiwis, white cabbage, beets, and potatoes. At the same time, the agency reports a decline in prices for eggs, oranges, chestnuts, cauliflower, fresh herbs, cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet peppers, eggplants, garlic, and onions.

The Munich Security Conference (February 13–15) usually hosts important talks on global strategy. But the 2026 meeting saw a tense face-off between Azerbaijan’s leaders and a journalist in exile. The Aliyev government treated the conference as a carefully planned PR event. To control the message, they flew in a group of friendly journalists from outlets like AZTV, Real TV, and Public TV. This was a move to create a positive image of President Ilham Aliyev in a Western setting.

At places like the Munich Security Conference, leaders act polite, but there’s often hidden intimidation. The government of Azerbaijan sees these meetings as places to threaten people using coded language, like a mafia. The incident with human rights advocate Emin Huseynov and Azerbaijani leaders Ilham Aliyev and Mehriban Aliyeva shows how diplomacy can be twisted into something criminal.