Heydar aliyev heritage research center

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BAKU-BRUSSELS (Azerbaijan-European Union relations)

Meeting of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

 Ilham Aliyev with the member of the European

 Commission for Enlargement Gunter Verhogen 

May 18, 2004

On 18 May, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev came to the residence of the 

European Commission in Brussels.

Member of the European Commission for enlargement Gunter Verhogen greeted 

the Head of Azerbaijan State. President Ilham Aliyev and Mr. Gunter Verhogen 

had their photos taken in memory before the flags of Azerbaijan Republic and the 

European Commission.

Then, during face-to-face talk, Azerbaijan-European Commission cooperation 

and its prospects were discussed. The European Commission is going to involve 

Azerbaijan to its new program “European neighborhood policy”, which would be 

useful for Azerbaijani economy and other fields, Mr. Gunter Verhogen stressed.

Also, peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh con-

flict, situation in the South Caucasus and other issues of mutual interest were dis-

cussed.

Mr. Gunter Verhogen stressed that he feels honor and is proud of meeting the 

head of Azerbaijan State, adding that once he closely watched contributions of the 

late President Heydar Aliyev to economic development of Azerbaijan.

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BAKU-BRUSSELS (Azerbaijan-European Union relations)

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

 Ilham Aliyev receives EU delegation 

 July 7, 2004 

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received the delegation 

of the European Union led by Commissioner for Enlargement Janez Potocnik on 7 

July.

The Head of State pointed out that Azerbaijan is a part of the European Union’s 

new neighborhood policy and expressed his confidence in further success of bi-

lateral cooperation in the framework of this program. Stressing the Azerbaijan’s 

integration into the European structures is one of the country’s priorities, President 

Ilham Aliyev reaffirmed that this policy would be continued in future. He stated that 

cooperation with the European Union’s member states would be continued not only 

in energy sector, but also in other spheres as well. The President also described his 

productive talks on energy cooperation with President of Greece, who had lately 

visited Baku, and with President of Turkey during the recent NATO Summit in 

Istanbul.

Azerbaijan  is  a  rapidly  developing  country,  which  has  achieved  considerable 

progress in many fields of industry, President Ilham Aliyev said.

The Azerbaijani leader highly appreciated the activity of the European Union’s 

Special Representative for the South Caucasus Heike Talvitie, and wished Mr. Janez 

Potocnik every success during his first visit to Azerbaijan.

Commissioner Janez Potocnik let the President know that he had had very pro-

ductive  meetings  during  the  visit,  and  noted  that  the  European  Union  considers 

Azerbaijan as a county of great potential.

Touching upon the processes taking place after the EU’s enlargement, he advised 

to hold consultations on bringing Turkey closer to the European family. Accord-

ing to him, the enlargement of the European Union requires facing the reality, and 

building policy towards neighbors on the new basis.

Mr. Potocnik noted as well that in September, the European Union is expected 

to consider a package of documents on cooperation in the framework of the new 

Neighborhood Program, as well as to discuss the issues related to fight against inter-

national terrorism, poverty reduction and a number of peculiarities of the organiza-

tion’s policy towards neighbors.

Present at the meeting were Deputy Prime Minister Abid Sharifov and Head of 

the Azerbaijan

Representation to the European Union, Ambassador Arif Mammadov.

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BAKU-BRUSSELS (Azerbaijan-European Union relations)

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev 

receives EC delegation headed by Romano Prodi

September 17, 2004 

On September 17, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received 

the delegation led by the President of the European Commission Romano Prodi at 

the Presidential Palace.

Greeting the guest, head of Azerbaijan state recalled his meeting with Mr. Ro-

mano Prodi in Belgium telling it was very useful. The Azerbaijan-European Union 

relations develop successfully, President of Azerbaijan underlined. “Our country at-

taches great importance to development of these relations”, he said. President Ilham 

Aliyev state that the relations with the European Union are one of the priorities of 

our state policy and we reach new accomplishments in this field, he added.

Noting that the “New Neighborhood Policy” is very important, President Ilham 

Aliyev underlined that this policy is one of the priorities in the relations of Azer-

baijan and European Union. Head of Azerbaijan stated that appointment of the Eu-

ropean Union representative for the South Caucasus serves development of these 

relations.

Stating that cooperation in political, economic, cultural and other fields between 

Azerbaijan and European Union develops successfully, president Ilham Aliyev ex-

pressed his confidence for strengthening of these ties. Azerbaijan is an integral part 

of Europe and integration to European structures is priority of our foreign policy, 

head of Azerbaijan state emphasized.

Noting that there is successful cooperation between Azerbaijan and European 

Union in the field of economy, in particular, in the field of energy, President Ilham 

Aliyev said there is a high level dialogue in the political field.

Head of Azerbaijani state expressed his confidence that the visit of Mr. Romano 

Prodi to Azerbaijan would greatly promote the development and strengthening of 

the bilateral relations.

Expressing gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev for warm reception, Mr. Prodi 

said that he was pleased with the visit. Noting that cooperation in the political, eco-

nomic and other fields is integral part of the new neighborhood policy he empha-

sized that realization of this policy is of great significance in terms of strengthening 

cooperation and solving problems. “There are important tasks before the European 

Union for implementation of this policy, and the EU holds fair position in regard 

with the policy of neighborhood”, he said.

Mr. Romano Prodi said that quick resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Na-

gorno-Karabakh conflict is necessary for successful realization of the New Neigh-

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