Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 22 2006
Aliyev: Azerbaijan key to European energy security
AssA-Irada 23/09/2006 01:07
"Azerbaijan has turned into a major oil producer and this is of great
importance for European energy security," President Ilham Aliyev told
the International Bertelsmann Forum in Berlin, Germany on Friday.
Aliyev said his country is ready to play the role of a reliable energy
partner of Europe.
The president regarded the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh
conflict as a serious hurdle for the integration of the South Caucasus
region and pointed to the importance of European states’ efforts in
solving the long-standing dispute.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered opening remarks at the
forum. She pointed to the possibility of Turkey’s becoming a member
of the European Union within the next 10 years.
The participants have discussed the future of the 25-member union
and economic cooperation among EU states.
President Aliyev was previously expected to hold a tete-a-tete meeting
with the German Chancellor. However, Merkel postponed all of her
meetings after a train crash in Germany.
Along with Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Poland and Romania are represented
at the two-day forum by their presidents. The event is also attended
by the parliament speakers of France and Georgia, the Armenian foreign
minister, as well as the heads of the EU and the Council of Europe.
Forums of this kind are organized by Carl Bertelsmann Foundation once
in two years in an effort to hold dialogue on the future of Europe
among political, economic and cultural circles and media outlets. The
last such event, "European alternatives – changes and prospects for
expanding Europe", was held in Berlin in 2004 and drew over 30 leaders
and prime ministers, parliament speakers and ministers from 22 European
states, as well as representatives of the United States and Israel.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
