Azerbaijan, EU discuss bilateral cooperation, situation in Karabakh

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Azerbaijan and the EU on Tuesday discussed bilateral cooperation as well as the current situation in the Karabakh region and the normalization process between Baku and Yerevan.

“At the meeting, the relations between Azerbaijan and the EU, including the current situation in the region, were discussed,” said a statement by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, following a meeting between Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Oliver Varhelyi in the Hungarian capital Budapest.

The statement said that Bayramov underlined the presence of multifaceted cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU, including in the political, economic, trade, transport and energy security spheres.

It further said that Bayramov expressed satisfaction with the level of development of relations in these fields and that the draft of the new agreement expected to be signed between both sides can play “an important role in the further development of relations.”

It also said that the importance of the strategic partnership memorandum signed between Azerbaijan and the EU in July 2022 in the field of energy security was emphasized during the meeting, adding that Bayramov also spoke about Baku’s initiatives on expanding the potential of the Middle Corridor.

Bayramov expressed that the opening of all transport and communications in the region, including the Zangezur corridor, can be a significant contribution to this process, the statement added.

It said Bayramov also informed Varhelyi of the current situation in the Karabakh region and Armenia’s “provocations” in this regard, the normalization of relations between Baku and Yerevan, discussions on the signing of a peace treaty and steps taken by Azerbaijan on the reintegration of Armenian residents in the region.

On Monday, Bayramov arrived in Hungary on an official visit, during which he met with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto and gave a speech at the annual conference of the heads of diplomatic missions of Hungary.