Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova who is in the Republic of Serbia on an official visit now has met and spoken with Serbian PM Ana Brnabić, who greeted the Azerbaijani counterpart cordially and pointed at the progressing bilateral links.

Azerbaijan matters to Serbia very much; the positive political dialogue and exchanged visits provide for the deepening of the bilateral ties, said Ms Brnabić before recalling fondly last year’s fruitful visit of President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan to Serbia and her own encounter with him.

Our economic relations are of huge importance, which is equally true of the energy co-operation, whilst energy security is a key issue in national security; Azerbaijan’s prominence in the maintenance of European energy security is remarkable in this regard, the Serbian PM continued.

Ana Brnabić said then that Azerbaijan and Serbia were solidary on many issues including those of sovereignty and territorial wholeness, and back each other all the time.

Sahiba Gafarova thanked for the hospitality extended to her before underlining the weight of the supreme and high-level visits that our states, friends and strategic partners, are exchanging. Here, Mrs Gafarova emphasised the official visits: of the leader of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to Belgrade in November 2022 and the head of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić to Baku in May 2018, as well as the Serbian President’s work trip to Azerbaijan in December 2022.

Top-notch political contacts provide a solid foundation on which interaction goes on in the other segments of the joint agenda; the advancement of the economic ties and of trade is gratifying, whereas the productivity of the inter-governmental commission will make it possible to intensify the economic connexions further, according to Mrs Gafarova. The energy sector is one of those with considerable expansion potentials, Mrs Gafarova added before telling of the successful energy policy of Azerbaijan.

One of the key elements of the Azerbaijani-Serbian bilateral and multilateral relations is the relationship between their parliaments, and the development of these relations is facilitated by the exchange of visits, Sahiba Gafarova continued, noting that this is her first visit to Serbia as the Head of the Milli Majlis. She then mentioned the recent arrival of the Speaker of the National Assembly Vladimir Orlić in Baku for a special parliamentary session on the occasion of the centenary of National Leader Heydar Aliyev.

Our legislatures have fine opportunities to push their close interaction further in several inter-parliamentary organisations. And, of course, the Memorandum of Understanding inked by the Azerbaijani and Serbian parliaments is certain to factor in the expansion of the relations.

Next, the leader of the Milli Majlis spoke about the situation in our region and the large-scale restoration of the de-occupied lands of Azerbaijan.

Other matters of shared interest were also discussed as the conversation went on.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis