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President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev
receives the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus
March 22, 2004
On March 22, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received
the delegation led by the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Heiki
Talvitie at the Presidential Place.
Welcoming the guests sincerely, Head of State Ilham Aliyev expressed his satis-
faction with deepening the cooperation between the European Union and Azerbai-
jan. He pointed out that the policy of integration into the European structures is a
strategic choice of Azerbaijan, and the country would be committed to this policy in
future. “The joint programs the European Union and Azerbaijan have been imple-
menting for the last years, and those to be realized in the future let us say that we
will be closer to each other” the President said.
President Ilham Aliyev touched upon his meetings during the recent conference
in Bratislava, highly evaluating his meeting with the EU Commissioner Gunter
Verheugen.
The Head of State noted he was pleased with the fact that the European Union
lately attached special attention to settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-
Karabakh conflict. He described the initial steps taken as promising. “We welcome
these steps, and we would like the European Union to be more actively engaged in
this problem.”
Pointing out the unwillingness of the Armenian armed forces to liberate the oc-
cupied territories, President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan’s position was that the
conflict could be settled only on the basis of the international legal norms, and
expressed hope that the international community would approach the issue exactly
from this standpoint.
President Ilham Aliyev also pointed out other important issues of mutual inter-
est: “I think the beginning of the dialogue on energy sphere is very important fact,
and we are ready for that,” he said. Mr. Ilham Aliyev especially emphasized that in
a few years Azerbaijan would turn into very important country for European con-
sumers.
Turning back to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, the
Head of State mentioned that it threatened stability in the region and impeded re-
gional cooperation and integration of the South Caucasus countries into the Euro-
pean family. “I hope the international community will express its fair stance in rela-
tion to this issue, and the problem will be finally solved,” President Ilham Aliyev
concluded.
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Having thanked the President of Azerbaijan for the sincere meeting, Mr. Heiki
Talvitie let him know that he had visited the grave of the national leader of Azer-
baijan Heydar Aliyev. “His bright memory will live in our hearts forever,” he said.
The EU Special Representative noted that the President Ilham Aliyev’s Program
of Social and Economic Development of the country had aroused keen interest in
Europe.
Touching upon Azerbaijan-European Union relationship, the guest pointed out
the significance of President Ilham Aliyev’s meeting with EU Commissioner in
Bratislava.
Speaking of settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Kara-
bakh, Mr. Heiki Talvitie said that his mandate included rendering assistance to
Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the Minsk group, and that he would be actively involved
in the process. “I believe the European Union is able to play its positive role in the
problem’s resolution,” he stressed.
Present at the meeting were Head of Azerbaijan delegation to the European
Union, Ambassador Arif Mamadov, Ambassador of Germany to Baku Klaus Grev-
lich and other officials.
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Meeting of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Ilham Aliyev with the Secretary- General of the Council
of the European Union Javier Solana
May 18, 2004
On May 18, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in the headquarters of the
European Union in Brussels. State flag of Azerbaijan Republic was waiving on the
building.
Secretary-General of the Council of the EU, the EU High Representative for the
Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana met Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev in front of the building.
Then, ceremony of signing of the “Protocol of agreement on partnership and
cooperation between European Union and Azerbaijan providing admission of 10
new countries to the European Union” took place. The document was signed by the
permanent representative of Ireland under the EU Mrs. Ann Anderson and Deputy
Director-General of the European Commission for External Relations Michael Lee,
Azerbaijani party was represented by the head of the permanent representative office
of our country under EU ambassador Arif Mammadov.
After signing of the document, meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Ali-
yev and Secretary-General of the Council of the EU Javier Solana took place.
President Ilham Aliyev spoke about the processes taking place in our country;
breakthroughs, establishment of stability and acceleration of socio-economic devel-
opment. President Ilham Aliyev reminded that he issued three decree on pardoning
in seven months as the head of the state and mentioned that he is in favor of dialogue
in the society.
Being satisfied with the processes taking place in Azerbaijan, Mr. Solana also
was interested in the construction of the main export pipeline Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan.
Having submitted detailed information about it, President Ilham Aliyev informed
that construction works at present were successfully continued. Head of the state
expressed his satisfaction with regard to appointment of the EU Special Representa-
tive for the South Caucasus.
In the course of the talk there was detailed exchange of views on the regional and
international issues, including peace settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-
Karabakh conflict.
After the meeting briefing for the media representatives took place.
Mr. Javier Solana and President Ilham Aliyev made brief statements.
Javier Solana: Hello. Let me briefly inform you about our meeting. I was really
happy to see you here, in Brussels, President Ilham Aliyev. I had this opportunity to