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Akbar Mammadov

President Ilham Aliyev has said Azerbaijan is in the final stages of negotiations on a new partnership agreement with the European Union.

Aliyev made the remarks during the Summit of the Eastern Partnership countries via video conference on June 18.

“Partnership with the European Union is one of the main priorities of Azerbaijan's foreign policy. We have close cooperation with many EU member states. Azerbaijan has signed a document on strategic partnership with nine members of the European Union. We are in the final stages of negotiations on a new partnership agreement with the European Union. Ninety per cent of the text has already been agreed,” Aliyev said.

Aliyev also reminded that two years ago, the document "Partnership Priorities" between Azerbaijan and the European Union was initiated in Brussels, which emphasizes the commitment of both sides to the principles of independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of internationally recognized borders.

“Despite the occupation and humanitarian catastrophe, Azerbaijan has achieved great results in socio-economic development. Over the past 16 years, our gross domestic product has tripled, and the poverty rate has fallen from 49 per cent to 5 percent. The European Union is our main trading partner. About 50 per cent of our trade is with member states. For almost fifteen years, Azerbaijan has been a reliable supplier of crude oil to European markets,” Aliyev noted.

The president pointed out that in the near future, Azerbaijan will start supplying natural gas to EU member states. Regarding that, he said that Azerbaijan initiated and financed the construction of the Southern Gas Corridor, a 3,500-kilometer integrated pipeline system that will connect Azerbaijan to EU markets. “The Southern Gas Corridor is an energy cooperation, energy security and energy diversification project”, he added.

Furthermore, Aliyev spoke about the measures taken to fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

“Measures taken against the coronavirus pandemic have allowed us to control the situation and keep losses to a minimum. The World Health Organization has called Azerbaijan an exemplary country in the fight against coronavirus”.

At the same time, the president touched upon Azerbaijan’s role in the Non-Aligned Movement.

“Azerbaijan, which was elected chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement in 2019 by a unanimous decision of its 120 member states, hosted an online summit of the Movement on COVID-19 on May 4 of this year. We appreciate the participation of the European Union and the African Union in this event”, he said.

Conveying his gratitude to the EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell, Aliyev expressed his hope that this will be the beginning of active cooperation between the European Union and the Non-Aligned Movement.

In addition, Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan has also proposed to hold a special meeting of the UN General Assembly at the level of heads of state and government dedicated to COVID-19 via video conference.

“Azerbaijan has provided $10 million in voluntary financial assistance to the World Health Organization to fight the pandemic. At the same time, our country has so far provided humanitarian assistance to 29 countries and plans to continue this work”, the president added.

The Eastern Partnership Summit continued with the speeches of the European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen and heads of state and government of the EU member states and the Eastern Partnership countries.

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Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

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