Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
May 19 2004

PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV ADDRESSES BRIEFING IN BRUSSELS
[May 19, 2004, 23:47:00]

On the 19th of May, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the
lunch and briefing “European Union – Azerbaijan – New Horizons For
Partnership” organized by the European Policy Center in the Conrad
Hotel in Brussels.

Opening the briefing, EPC Chief Executive Hans Martens warmly greeted
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and introduced him to the
audience. He noted the meeting is attended by influential politicians
of the Kingdom of Belgium, and that the address by the Head of
Azerbaijani State would be rather useful for them.

President Ilham Aliyev has made a speech at the briefing. The Head of
State dwelt on the difficulties Azerbaijan faced after gaining its
state independence, Armenian military aggression and its hard
consequences, restoration of stability after national leader Heydar
Aliyev’s return to power in 1993, as well as reforms carried out in
the Republic and successes achieved. President Ilham Aliyev
especially stressed that Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh, which remains unresolved for years, is the main
factor posing a serious threat to the region.

Later on, the Head of Azerbaijan responded to the questions from the
briefing participants.