President Aliyev receives delegation led by EU’s Salber - UPDATE
By Nazrin Gadimova
Azerbaijan and the European Union exchanged views on the current state and prospects of relations as part of EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Herbert Salber’s visit to Baku.
During the meeting with President Ilham Aliyev, the parties discussed the cooperation in various areas, including the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Touching upon relations between the EU and Azerbaijan, the head of the state said that there are good prospects for future partnership.
Salber, in turn, emphasized that the visit of High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini to Baku opened good opportunities for expanding the cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan.
The EU’s representative said he had visited the region several times to get familiar with the current situation, adding that the organization intends to make its contribution to the settlement of the conflicts.
As part of his visit to Baku, Salber met with Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.
The parties exchanged views on the current state and prospects of relations between Azerbaijan and the EU, and expressed mutual interest for the development of bilateral cooperation.
Mammadyarov and Salber stressed the importance of the energy partnership between Azerbaijan and the European Union, including TAP and TANAP projects, which are the important components of the Southern Gas Corridor.
The sides also discussed scientific, educational and humanitarian cooperation.
Azerbaijan expects to receive the EU Council's mandate to negotiate on a new agreement on strategic modernization partnership, which will determine the format of the future cooperation with the EU.
The Azerbaijani government submitted a draft agreement to the EU in May 2015 as part of the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga, Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev said earlier adding that “we are expecting now to obtain a mandate from the highest political body of the EU to start the negotiation process”.
Currently, the bilateral relations between the EU and Azerbaijan are regulated on the basis of agreement on partnership and cooperation, which was signed in 1996.
A new agreement envisages the adjustment of Azerbaijan’s legislation and procedures to the EU’s most important international and trade norms and standards, which should lead to an improvement in the access of Azerbaijani goods to the EU markets.