Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Azerbaijan has been granted an award jointly established by the International Fund for Cooperation and Partnership of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea and the European Union, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's website said.

Azerbaijan won the award thanks to its contribution to the progress in the maintenance of international peace and security and the encouragement of inter-cultural dialogue as well as for its active role in the development of new strategic regional energy corridors.

The award was presented to the head of Azerbaijan's representation at the EU Fuad Iskandarov.

In his remarks, Iskandarov informed attendees about Azerbaijan's activity as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and said that Baku is the initiator of the implementation of energy projects of regional significance.

Addressing the event, President of the International Fund for Cooperation and Partnership of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, Akkan Suver, spoke about the history of the establishment of the fund and its activity.

Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania and Turkey were awarded in various nominations as well. Representatives of various institutions of the EU, NATO, the diplomatic corps accredited to Belgium, non-governmental organizations and mass media attended the awards ceremony, which was held in the European Parliament on June 19.

The International Fund for Cooperation and Partnership of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea is a non-governmental organization established on the initiative of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Romanian President Traian Basescu in March 2009. It comprises well-known politicians, academia and diplomats from 19 countries.