President Aliyev: Future agreement with EU is another important stage in strengthening strategic relations
As part of his working visit to Brussels President Ilham Aliyev participated at the 5th Eastern Partnership Summit held on November 24.
On the occasion of the summit the EU leaders met with their six Eastern partners Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Armenia to agree on the future priorities of their partnership.
Together they discussed how to strengthen cooperation and achieve stronger economy, governance, connectivity and society. During their meeting they agreed a joint declaration.
Addressing the Plenary Session of the Eastern Partnership Summit, President Aliyev said that European companies are ready to invest huge financial resources to support Azerbaijan’s economy.
Since Azerbaijan gained its independence, the investments of the EU to the Azerbaijani economy have exceeded $20 billion, said the head of state, adding that this demonstrates the presence of a good investment climate.
The head of state noted that the partnership with the European Union is one of the main priorities of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy.
The two sides launched active negotiations on the new agreement in February 2017, said the President, expressing hope that these negotiations will be finalized soon, and stressing that this will create an opportunity to continue cooperation between the two sides.
He noted that the European Union is the major trade partner of Azerbaijan. He added that 50 percent of the country’s trade accounts for the share of EU member countries. At the same time, Azerbaijan is actively developing relations with the member countries in a bilateral format, said President Aliyev.
Azerbaijan adopted a declaration on strategic partnership with nine countries that are members of the EU, and this means that one third of the EU member states consider Azerbaijan as their strategic partner, he said.
This is very important for a young independent country and, of course, Azerbaijan considers the future agreement with the European Union as another important stage in strengthening strategic relations, added President Aliyev.
Benefits of Azerbaijani gas for Europe
The gas, to be produced at the Azerbaijani fields, will be the only new source of natural gas for Europe and, of course, will significantly change the energy map of the European continent, said Ilham Aliyev.
Energy policy is one of the issues, on which Azerbaijan actively cooperates with European institutions, said the President adding that the large-scale energy project, Southern Gas Corridor, is developing successfully.
President Aliyev noted that the cost of this project exceeds $40 billion and will allow Azerbaijan to extract additional volumes of gas and supply them European markets.
The 3,500-kilometer pipeline will be a new route, and will transport gas to the European markets from a new source, he said.
“Along with the policy of energy security, this is the policy of energy diversification, because the gas, to be produced from the Azerbaijani fields, will be the only new source of natural gas for Europe and, of course, will significantly change the energy map of the European continent,” noted the head of state.
The head of state reminded that the proven gas reserves of Azerbaijan are equal to 2.6 trillion cubic meters and this will be enough to supply natural gas to Europe for decades.
President Aliyev said Azerbaijan has put forward an initiative to implement the project of the Southern Gas Corridor, and thanked the European Commission for its continued support to the project.