The virtual meeting of the 16^th meeting of the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Co-operation Committee Bureau held on 16 December began with the introductory speeches by the Committee co-chairs Marina Kaljurand and Javanshir Feyziyev.

MP Feyziyev who also heads the Azerbaijani delegation to the Committee said that a lot had changed in the region and in the world including Europe since the 15^th Bureau meeting had been held in 2018. He proceeded to update the meeting participants on the parliamentary delegations conducted in Azerbaijan, the changes in the Committee composition, Azerbaijan’s having de-occupied its lands in accord with the international law in the 44 days’ Patriotic War, the new military-political situation established in the region and co-operation opportunities.

That was followed by the commentaries about the present state of the relations between the European Union and Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev broached the subject of the current bilateral collaboration, relevant priorities and projects under way.

The Azerbaijani-EU co-operation was referred to as going on through various programmes and projects, especially significantly, in the energy sector. Our country was described as a dependable partner. The deputy chief of staff of the Ministry of Economy Allahverdi Pashayev, the deputy head of the department of bilateral relations with the Eastern Partnership states in the European External Action Service Richard Tibbels and a section head in the European Commission Directorate-General for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations David Cullen covered those topics.

The Azerbaijani MPs Erkin Gadirli, Tural Ganjaliyev, Razi Nurullayev, Elman Nasirov and Shahin Seyidzade gave presentations about the regional security a year after the signing of the Trilateral Statement of 10 November 2020. Their colleagues Azer Karimli and Emin Hajiyev dedicated their speaking time to economic and energy co-operation while the law-makers Kamal Jafarov and Sevil Mikayilova talked about human rights, democracy and rule of law.

The speakers told the MEPs about the situation in the region and commented on the statements concerning Azerbaijan voiced in the Europarliament earlier.

The post-war developments in the region to date were discussed thoroughly. A confidence was expressed that the results of the meeting that had taken place in Brussels upon the instance of the EU Council President Charles Michel would bolster peace and security in the region.

As for the other participants of the videoconferenced meeting, members of the aforementioned Azerbaijani delegation MPs Nurlan Hasanov and Iltizam Yusifov were amongst them as well.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis