PAP Polish Press Agency
PAP News Wire
March 30, 2005 Wednesday

Kwasniewski, Aliyev on cooperation, Caspian Sea oil

Warsaw, March 30

Poland is very interested in big projects
concerning the transmission of crude oil and gas from the Caspian Sea
region to Europe which have been presented by Azerbaijan to the
EU, said President Aleksander Kwasniewski on Wednesday
following talks with Azeri president Ilham Aliyev.

We discussed the possibility of including in the projects
the Odessa-Brody-Gdansk stretch, Kwasniewski told a news
conference.

President Aliyev, on the two-day official visit to Poland
said talks on including Poland in the project were underway. He
stressed that Azerbaijan had always supported the extension of
Odessa-Brody-Gdansk pipeline.

Kwasniewski added he had discussed the stepping up of the
pipeline construction with Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko and
that in his opinion Ukraine seemed to be interested in joining
the project.

The Polish president said Poland supported Azeri efforts to
establish closer cooperation with the EU, NATO and WTO and was ready
to share its experience in this field.

During the visit three agreements between both governments
were signed: on economic cooperation, on cooperation and mutual
assistance in customs issues and on cooperation in defence. According
to Kwasniewski also agreements on cooperation between SMEs and
labour markets as well as letters of intent on cooperation in
agriculture and education will be signed.

According to the Polish president a peaceful solution to
Azeri-Armenian conflict about Nagorno-Karabakh was feasible but, as
the president stressed, the decision hinged on Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Asked about Poland’s official stand in case of Azeri democratic
revolution gathering momentum Kwasniewski said Poland persistently
supported democracy, civil society, democratic institutions and the
freedom of mass media.

The Azeri president said he was satisfied with the level of
bilateral relations. He explained that he updated his Polish
counterpart on negotiations with Armenia.

After the meeting of the two presidents Defence Minister
Jerzy Szmajdzinski conveyed to his Azeri counterpart Safar Abiyev
archival materials confirming the presence of Azeri officers in the
Polish armed forces in the period between the two world wars.

The Azeri president received deputy Senate Speaker Jolanta
Danielak, who stressed smooth development and intensification of the
political dialogue.

President Aliyev said his country was in the process of
making investor-friendly laws and expected an increased number of
Polish investments.