Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova had a meeting on 4 April with the delegation led by the President of the Republic of The Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso who are in our country on an official visit.

Touching upon the important role of summit and high-level reciprocal visits in the advancement of the bilateral relations, the Speaker of the Milli Majlis emphasised that the current visit was a manifestation of mutual interest and intention to develop the co-operation between our countries. She expressed a confidence that this visit as well as the talks with President Ilham Aliyev and the agreements reached will give great impetus to the growth of the ties between Azerbaijan and Congo.

The conversation also gravitated upon the mutual support and advantageous co-operation of our countries in international organisations in general and the Non-Aligned Movement in particular. The Congo is one of the countries that backed the extension of the Azerbaijani presidency in the Non-Aligned Movement whilst Azerbaijan placed a special emphasis on furthering co-operation with the African countries, bilaterally as well as multilaterally, and to protecting our common interests during her chairmanship of the NAM.

It was pointed out as the meeting progressed that there are good opportunities to bolster the co-operation of our countries in various fields including the economic, trading, energy, mining, military, humanitarian and others.

Thanking for the warm reception and hospitality, the President of the Republic of The Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso shared his impressions of the meeting with President Ilham Aliyev. The guest remarked confidently that the documents signed between the two countries during this visit would foster the co-operation’s progress, adding that the Declaration of Co-operation between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of The Congo was a manifestation of the parties’ political will.

As he spoke of the potential of both countries to develop the relations further, the leader of The Congo referred to the important role of the parliaments in this field. The guest shared his ideas about broadening Azerbaijan’s co-operation with the countries of Africa, the backing to the run-up to the hosting of the COP-29 by Azerbaijan and promoting the growth of co-operation in mining industry, agriculture, environmental matters, culture and elsewhere. He also touched on the prospects of the two countries’ relations.

The considerable importance of inter-parliamentary co-operation in the bilateral relations was broached as the meeting continued. Speaker Sahiba Gafarova witnessed the readiness of the Milli Majlis to bolster the relations with both the National Assembly and the Senate of the Republic of The Congo. She said that contacts between MPs and two-way visits could promote the relations’ growth.

As the Speaker of the Milli Majlis then said, the Azerbaijani Parliament co-operates with many countries via international organisations. The Non-Aligned Movement is one of such organisations. The Movement’s Parliamentary Network was established at the initiative of President of Ilham Aliyev in 2021 during the Azerbaijani presidency in the NAM. The Network that Azerbaijan chairs brings together by more than 70 countries right now. The Congo Parliament’s active engagement with the Network, too, would serve the common interests.

The President of the Republic of The Congo stressed his support for the broadening of the co-operation between his country’s legislature with the parliament of Azerbaijan before expressing a confidence that energetic steps would be taken to that end in the coming period.

The meeting also saw an exchange of opinions about the current situation in the region. The Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova informed the guest of the unfair attitude to our countries manifested by certain international organisations following Azerbaijan’s restoring of her territorial integrity and sovereignty. Certain countries including France obstruct peace in the South Caucasian Region and intend to sow instability in it and bring into it the policy of neo-colonialism, Mrs Gafarova continued.

In turn, the President of the Republic of The Congo recalled that the African countries and, specifically, The Congo had suffered colonisation policy and suffered for their freedom for long years. Today, they are opposing certain countries’ hegemony and domination, the exploitation of the wealth of the native peoples. According to Mr Sassou Nguesso, joint activities of the peacekeeping states, their struggling together against such encroachments is very important in the current tense period. Therefore, our countries will stand together against pressure and double standards, be it within the framework of the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement or other international organisations.

There was also an exchange of opinions about other matters of shared interest.

The Press and Public Relations Department

The Milli Majlis