Azeri leader, European official note importance of expanding cooperation

Azartac news agency, Baku
17 Sep 04

[No dateline as received] Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received
a delegation led by the chairman of the European Commission, Romano
Prodi, on 17 September.

Having sincerely welcomed the guest, President Ilham Aliyev recalled
his meeting with Romano Prodi in Belgium and said that the meeting
had been very productive. President Ilham Aliyev said that relations
between Azerbaijan and the European Union are successfully developing
and that our country attaches great importance to the further
development of this cooperation. The head of state pointed out that
relations with the European Union form one of the main directions of
Azerbaijan’s foreign policy and new achievements are being made in
this sphere.

Stressing that the EU’s New Neighbourhood policy is of great
importance, President Ilham Aliyev said that this policy is one of
the most important spheres in relations between Azerbaijan and the
European Union. The head of state stressed that the appointment of
an EU representative for the South Caucasus will serve the further
development of our relations.

President Ilham Aliyev said that cooperation in the political,
economic, cultural and other spheres between Azerbaijan and
the European Union are successfully developing and expressed his
confidence that these relations will strengthen even more in the
future. Recalling that Azerbaijan is part of Europe, the head of
state said that our country’s integration into European structures
is one of the priorities of our foreign policy.

President Ilham Aliyev said that Azerbaijan and the European Union
are successfully cooperating in the economic and especially in the
energy sphere and stressed that the political dialogue was also at
a high level.

The head of state expressed his confidence that Romano Prodi’s visit
to Azerbaijan will help develop and strengthen our relations even more.

The guest thanked President Ilham Aliyev for the sincere reception
and for his remarks on relations with the European Union and stressed
that he was very pleased with his visit to Azerbaijan. Saying that
cooperation in the political, economic and other spheres was an
integral part of the New Neighbourhood policy, the guest added that
the implementation of this policy is of great importance in terms
of strengthening cooperation between Azerbaijan and the European
Commission and solving problems. Mr Prodi said that the European
Union is facing important tasks in the sphere of implementing this
policy and stressed that his organization has a fair position on the
New Neighbourhood policy.

The guest said that a swift peaceful solution to the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagornyy Karabakh conflict was important for
the successful implementation of the New Neighbourhood policy.

Mr Romano Prodi said that the European Union, which covers a vast area
with a population of 500m, attaches great importance to the expansion
of cooperation with Azerbaijan, which is playing an important role in
the region. He expressed his hope that these relations will continue
to develop.

The meeting was also attended by Novruz Mammadov, head of the foreign
relations department of the Presidential Executive Staff, and the
head of the Azerbaijani mission to the European Union, Arif Mammadov.