Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev announced the date of the next stage of negotiations on a new agreement on a strategic partnership between the European Union and Azerbaijan will be held in late October.

Another topic of the discussions during this meeting will be political security, deputy foreign minister told reporters.

The European Council adopted a mandate for the European Commission and the high representative for foreign affairs and security policy to negotiate, on behalf of the EU and its member states, a comprehensive agreement with Azerbaijan in November 2016.

The new agreement, which should replace the 1996 partnership and cooperation agreement and should better take account of the shared objectives and challenges the two sides face today, will follow the principles endorsed in the 2015 review of the European Neighborhood Policy and offer a renewed basis for political dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Mammad-Guliyev also informed about the upcoming meeting on negotiations on an EU-Azerbaijan Common Aviation Area Agreement, which the sides scheduled for October 23-24.

At the second round of negotiations on the agreement, which was held on July 4-5 in Brussels, the parties expressed readiness to sign relevant agreements.

Remarks and proposals by the Azerbaijani side were discussed, and a number of issues were clarified.

Signing of a protocol following the meeting, the sides decided to hold the third round of negotiations on the EU-Azerbaijan Common Aviation Area Agreement in Baku, where it is also expected to prepare the final version of the agreement.

Until then, the EU and its member countries will receive prompt feedback from other ministries and committees of Azerbaijan.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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