Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova met the inbound delegation led by the Republic of Croatia Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić-Radman.

After the sincere welcome, the Chair of the Milli Majlis referred to the intense importance that Azerbaijan attaches to furthering the relations with Croatia and said that the present elevated level of the bilateral interaction was in many respects there thanks to the reciprocal visits and meetings of the heads of the two states. The conversations they had had and the documents they had signed at those meetings laid a firm foundation for our relations to grow on. According to Speaker Sahiba Gafarova, the high-level political dialogue of Azerbaijan and Croatia bears well on the economic ties, too. Azerbaijan is making a weighty contribution to the energy security of Europe while the transport projects implemented in the region give our country further opportunities to use the created infrastructure and transit perspectives. Mrs Gafarova mentioned the role of the parliaments in the inter-state relations, commended the two legislatures’ friendship groups on their work and underscored the importance of the MPs’ encounters.

Sahiba Gafarova went on to say, as she touched on Azerbaijan’s victory in the Patriotic War, that our valiant army guided by Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev had freed the lands of the country after thirty years of occupation and had made the national territory of Azerbaijan intact again. Thus, our country had also enforced the requirements of the four resolutions of the UN Security Council concerned with the Garabagh Conflict. All the towns and villages left in our captured lands had been reduced to ruins in the thirty years of the Armenian occupation but the restoration and building work is afoot in those provinces now. Meanwhile, Armenia would not cease from provocations, is trying to hinder the border delimitation and refusing to release the minefield maps.

Thanking for the warm welcome, the Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić-Radman witnessed his pleasure with the visit to our country and the meetings he had held here. Croatia, said he, was interested in deepening the relations with Azerbaijan very much. The bipartite political, economic, cultural and humanitarian bonds are growing stronger. As regards the inter-parliamentary co-operation, it continues intensifying whilst the regular meetings and exchanged visits of our MPs serve the common interest. Croatia is glad of Azerbaijan’s successes. Today, the two countries stand to benefit from the ample opportunities to interact not only in the energy sector but also in agriculture, tourism and high technologies, according to Mr Grlić-Radman.

The leader of the Milli Majlis working group for the inter-parliamentary connexions with Croatia Konul Nurullayeva and the Milli Majlis committee chairman Tahir Mirkishili who were present at the conversation shared their own considerations regarding the co-operation between our countries.

Chief of the Milli Majlis Staff Safa Mirzayev, the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Croatia Fakhraddin Gurbanov, the Ambassador of Croatia to Azerbaijan Branko Zebić and other officials were taking part in the meeting as well.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis