Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova met on 5 September with the delegation led by Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic Boris Kollár.

After the cordial greetings to the Slovak delegation, Mrs Gafarova congratulated the guests on the national holiday of the Slovak Republic – the Constitution Day. She then touched upon the friendship and co-operation between Azerbaijan and Slovakia as well as the progress of the bilateral ties and the existence of favourable opportunities for their further expansion.

Sahiba Gafarova also expressed satisfaction with the positive dynamics of the relations, said that the Azerbaijan-Slovak diplomatic relations would be thirty years old in 2023 and added that the Majlis had passed a bill at the last spring-session plenary sitting on establishment of our embassy in Bratislava. Mrs Gafarova remarked confidently that the embassy would bring a positive contribution to the deepening of the bilateral relations.

Underlining the importance of high-level visits and meetings for the bilateral relations’ advancement, Mrs Gafarova recalled gladly Mr Kollár's trips to Azerbaijan over the past years and her own official visit to Slovakia in 2021, and the talks held during those.

It was further noted that the documents signed so far constituted the legal frameworks covering the political, economic, trade, humanitarian and other areas of co-operation between our countries. The joint agenda can be enriched with new documents on various areas of interest to both sides, according to Mrs Chair.    

Regarding the economic ties Mrs Gafarova said that the on-going activities of the joint task force helped deepen those ties.

Furthermore, the leader of the Azerbaijani legislature underscored Azerbaijan’s significant role in the European energy security and touched upon the prospects of Azerbaijani-Slovak interaction in the energy field. Slovakia’s joining the STRING Solidarity Ring was bound to turn a leaf in our forthcoming co-operation, in the opinion of Madam Chair.

As regards maintaining close ties and strengthening cultural ties whilst also organising and promoting connexions between both countries’ provinces, Sahiba Gafarova said she was certain that the eventual twinning of the towns of Shusha and Trenčín would help boost mutual understanding and confidence.

The current inter-parliamentary relations were spoken of with praise. The tasks that the two sides’ parliamentary friendship groups have on their hands to further the co-operation were broached as well. Mrs Gafarova said it was necessary to keep up regular reciprocal visits between the groups and to ensure an all-in exchange of opinions about our co-operation.

As she was telling the Slovak guest about the current situation in our region, Speaker Gafarova pointed out that although it was Azerbaijan that had suffered from the former conflict, it was also Azerbaijan which, immediately after ending the thirty-year occupation of its lands by Armenia and restoring its territorial integrity, launched a peace initiative to normalise relations with Armenia on the basis of the norms and principles of international law for the sake of long-term peace and stability in the South Caucasus.

Then, the conversation moved on to the propaganda of deception concerning the Lachin Road and fabricated by Armenia. Mrs Gafarova stressed that the road in question had been and remained open and whatever blockade of it was out of the question. That road is territory of Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan is offering the Aghdam-Khankendi road for transportation of humanitarian cargoes to Khankendi and surrounding villages. Unfortunately, Armenia does not wish to use that route.

The Armenians of Garabagh are Azerbaijani citizens; steps are being taken to ensure their social reintegration. As President Ilham Aliyev has announced repeatedly, the Armenians living in Garabagh are our citizens and will enjoy the same rights as all our other citizens have.

Boris Kollár said he was pleased to be at the Milli Majlis before he shared his impressions of the meeting with Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev and outlined the goals of his visit. The guest said he was satisfied by the current state of relations between Azerbaijan and Slovakia, emphasised the importance of high-level mutual visits and recalled Sahiba Gafarova's visit to Bratislava in 2021. That visit, according to Mr Kollár, gave impetus to the development of inter-parliamentary ties. The leader of the Slovak legislature proceeded to underscore the necessity of intensification of the mutual visits and development of the relations between the parliamentary committees in the general context of the progress of the contacts between the National Council and the Milli Majlis.

Tolerance and multiculturalism in Azerbaijan can serve as an example for other countries. The international law and justice are on the side of Azerbaijan, Mr Kollár stressed, recalling that he visited the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation on his last visit to us and adding that tomorrow he would go there again and get acquainted with the reconstruction and construction works in progress. The Slovak ‘smart village’ project to be implemented in Azerbaijan’s Aghdam Province was brought up too, with Mr Kollár expressing pleasure at Slovakia's participation in the restoration of the liberated territories of Azerbaijan. Mr Kollár referred to the development of bilateral economic ties and spoke his mind about the possibility of expanding co-operation between the business circles of our countries.

Other matters occupying minds on both sides were talked over, too as the conversation continued.

The Press and Public Relations Department  
The Milli Majlis