Foreign minister off to Brussels to join Azerbaijan-EU Cooperation Council meeting
By Vugar Khalilov
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov is visiting Brussels to attend the 18th Azerbaijan-European Union Cooperation Council meeting, Azernews reports, citing the ministry.
As part of the visit, Bayramov is expected to hold bilateral meetings as well. The minister will meet with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at NATO Headquarters
In the meantime, ahead of the Brussels meeting of the top diplomat, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on strategic cooperation in the energy field in Baku, on July 18.
“Today’s memorandum is not the first document which was signed between us. We had MoU signed in 2006, and Joint Declaration on Southern Gas Corridor signed in 2011. So, we have a good history and good achievements. Energy projects initiated by Azerbaijan and supported by the European Union and supported by our partners completely changed the energy map of Europe. We started with oil production, and then gas production, and the construction of an oil pipeline that connected Caspian with the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Of course, the Southern Gas Corridor is a 3,500 km long integrated pipeline system which brings our gas to European Continent,” Aliyev said.
The EU and Azerbaijan are in active dialogue on increasing gas supplies amid the energy crisis. A joint statement on energy cooperation with the EU was signed more than ten years ago. The EU-Azerbaijan energy cooperation had reached a new level and is still ongoing within the framework of the Southern Gas Corridor. The EU places a high value on energy supply diversification, and the Southern Gas Corridor is particularly important in this regard.
“MoU on a Strategic Partnership in the field of energy between EU and Azerbaijan signed today by President Ilham Aliyev and President Ursula von der Leyen, is a road map for future cooperation and makes the energy partnership of the EU and Azerbaijan even stronger. Azerbaijan reliable and trustworthy partner!” Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Leyla Abdullayeva wrote on her Twitter account.
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