Azernews.Az

European Union Special Representative for South Caucasus Philippe Lefort arrives in Azerbaijan on Wednesday for talks with top officials, the EU Delegation in Baku said.

Lefort's meetings with officials will begin on Thursday. The EU official will meet with the Azerbaijani president, prime minister and foreign minister, as well as hold meetings in the ministries of economic development, education, and health.

Lefort was appointed to the post of the EU special envoy for South Caucasus in August last year.

The EU and Azerbaijan are maintaining relations under the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which was signed in 1996 and came into force in 1999. In 2009, the EU passed a decision to start negotiations on the conclusion of bilateral association agreements of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia with the bloc. These agreements will be a new practical instrument to replace the bilateral action plans.

Azerbaijan is also included in the EU's Eastern Partnership program, adopted at the initiative of Poland and Sweden and approved at the EU summit in Brussels in 2008. The Eastern Partnership is aimed at political and economic rapprochement of six post-Soviet states -- Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus and the EU. The program provides a significant increase in the level of political engagement, broad integration of the former Soviet republics in the EU economy, increase in the amount of financial assistance and strengthening of energy security.