Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijani Prime Minister met Vice Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina on April 29.

Artur Rasizade and Zlatko Lagumdzija praised the role of Azerbaijan in ensuring the European energy security, as well as the country`s contribution to development of Bosnia and Herzegovina`s economy, AzerTag news agency reported.

The sides said the expansion of political, economic and cultural ties as well as joint activities in regional and international formats promoted overall development of relations between the two countries.

The Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was also discussed during the meeting,

The sides pointed to Bosnia and Herzegovina`s supporting Azerbaijan`s just position in international events, and stressed the importance of solving the conflict within the international law and the principle of inviolability of borders and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.

Prior to meeting with Azerbaijani Prime Minister, Lagumdzija met with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

The ministers exchanged views on the issues regarding the development of bilateral relations in the sphere of politics, economy, trade, investment and regional issues of mutual interest.

According to Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Bosnia and Herzegovina as of 2012 amounted to about $287,000 and decreased by 27.5 percent compared to 2011.