By Burc Eruygur
ISTANBUL (AA) – Azerbaijan and Bulgaria on Wednesday signed a joint declaration to strengthen their strategic partnership following talks between the presidents of both countries in the Azerbaijani capital Baku.
The Azerbaijani Presidency issued a statement following a ceremony in which President Ilham Aliyev and his visiting Bulgarian counterpart Rumen Radev signed the declaration after holding talks in a narrow and expanded format.
The statement said a codeshare agreement was signed by their delegations, as well as two memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on technological innovation cooperation and another involving Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR and Bulgaria-based Asarel Investment.
In an earlier statement, Aliyev was quoted as saying during his expanded meeting with Radev that their agenda is very broad and that the two countries have strong political ties.
"Our economy, energy, and transportation sectors are in excellent shape. I mean our partnership and, of course, humanitarian ties," Aliyev said.
He said Baku is glad that both countries are collaborating on energy security issues, indicating that gas supplies from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria are increasing and that they hope to increase even more this year.
"I have invited Mr. President to participate in COP29, and we hope to see him again in November. At the same time, our teams are working closely on the green energy cable project. I’m confident that the visit will yield positive results and that our collaboration will continue to thrive," he added.
Radev, for his part, was quoted as saying that his country is "more than pleased" with Azerbaijan-Bulgaria's energy cooperation.
"We are delighted to collaborate with Azerbaijan in transporting additional quantities of Azeri gas to Europe. It is obvious that working together strengthens not only our bilateral cooperation but also the stability and economic development of the Caucasus and Black Sea regions. The goal is to improve Europe's energy security overall.
“There are plenty of new opportunities. I'm pleased that we have a strong business delegation and will continue to work on some leading projects," he added.