Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

The Summit of the European Union's Eastern Partnership Program kicked off in Czech Republic' capital Prague on April 24.

This Summit was dedicated to the 5th anniversary of the Prague Eastern Partnership Summit held in 2009.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev attended the Summit.

The Summit started with an official welcome of heads of states and governments at Prague Castle.

President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman welcomed his Azerbaijani counterpart. Then the first meeting of the Summit began. President Aliyev also addressed the meeting.

Opening the Summit, Zeman welcomed the heads of states and governments of the participating countries. He noted the Eastern Partnership Program made great developments in the last five years.

Highlighting the future tasks, the Czech President expressed confidence that the cooperation would be continued in bilateral and multilateral formats.

European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Štefan Füle congratulated the event participants on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership Summit. Then the discussions started.

The Eastern Partnership (EaP) is an EU initiative governing its relationship with the states of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, and Armenia intended to provide a venue for discussions of trade, economic strategy, travel agreements, and other issues between the EU and its eastern neighbors. The project was initiated by Poland and a subsequent proposal was prepared in co-operation with Sweden.

Later, President Zeman hosted a dinner in honor of heads of states and governments attending the Eastern Partnership Summit in Prague.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev also attended the dinner. The dinner was followed by a concert.

Bilateral meetings

As part of the summit, President Aliyev held bilateral meetings with top officials of several countries.

First he met Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti in Prague.

During the meeting, the presidents expressed satisfaction with the level of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Moldova.

The parties stressed the importance of expanding cooperation between the two countries even further, and noted the significance of developing ties in economic and other fields.

During the conversation, the sides exchanged views on the expansion of cooperation between the EU and the two countries, and other issues of mutual interest.

Later, President Aliyev and his Polish counterpart Bronislaw Komorowski had a meeting in Prague.

The presidents noted the bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Poland were at a high level, and stressed the importance of expanding ties.

The parties exchanged views on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The sides discussed prospects for cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan.

President Komorowski invited President Aliyev to visit his country.

Also, President Aliyev met Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili in Prague.

During the meeting, the presidents said they were satisfied with the development of bilateral relations between the two countries, and noted high level regional cooperation contributed to these bonds.

The sides said cooperation in the field of energy was successful.

The parties noted there was appropriate ground for expanding relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia in tourism, cultural, educational, sports and other fields.

President Margvelashvili invited President Aliyev to visit his country.

Later, President Aliyev met the Czech President in Prague.

During the meeting, the presidents said they were satisfied with the development of bilateral relations between the two countries.

The sides said fruitful discussions were conducted at the Summit of the EU Eastern Partnership Program in Prague.

The presidents exchanged views on the expansion of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic in various areas, particularly investments, infrastructure projects, education and transportation.

The sides stressed the importance of strengthening the work of Azerbaijan-Czech Republic Joint Intergovernmental Commission and expanding the activities of Czech companies in Azerbaijan.