Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova had a meeting with the inbound Chairman of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova Grosu on 22 February.

Sahiba Gafarova told the leader of the Moldavan legislative assembly that it was a pleasure to greet him in the Milli Majlis and that she was certain: his first ever official visit to Azerbaijan was going to prove a success. Mrs Gafarova referred to the paths and histories of independence of the two countries, spoke about the establishment of the Azerbaijani-Moldovan diplomatic relations, the work of the bilateral inter-state commission as well as of the two countries’ political and economic ties.

Also, Mrs Gafarova touched upon the significance of the documents signed during the reciprocal visits of the state leaders and government officials and the current opportunity to expand the coverage of those documents. Azerbaijan, a leading state in its region, is well on its independent political course defined by the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev and pursued further successfully by President Ilham Aliyev, according to Sahiba Gafarova.

Moldova borders on the European Union member-states, Sahiba Gafarova mentioned before addressing the subject of the relations between Azerbaijan and the EU. She let Mrs Grosu know that the furtherance of the ties with the EU happened to be one of the foreign political priorities of Azerbaijan and that Azerbaijan contributed weightily to the energy security of Europe. Incidentally, the conversations about a new bilateral partnership agreement between our country and the EU are near conclusion.

As the meeting went on, the Chair of the Milli Majlis shared her thoughts about the current co-operation between the legislative bodies of our two countries and the relevant development prospects. Mrs Gafarova underlined the work done by the two inter-parliamentary friendship groups at that.

Madame Speaker spoke of our collaboration advancing as successfully under the aegis of the international organisations where our MPs share support as required.

Mr Grosu was supplied with ample information about the brilliant victory of Azerbaijan in the 44 days’ Patriotic War and the new realia established in our region with the signing of the well-known trilateral statement on 10 November 2020. Azerbaijan had put an end to the Armenian occupation that had lasted for thirty years and had made its national territory whole again. Speaking of which, Armenia had sacked our towns and provinces and had destroyed our nation’s historical and cultural heritage as well as mosques in all the captured lands during those thirty years of captivity. The provinces in question truly put one in mind of Hiroshima now.

Further, Sahiba Gafarova talked about the restoration and building work that were started in those territories after the eviction of the invaders. She said that that conflict was left in the past and that our country was keen on lasting peace and stability in our region now – and, what’s more, was taking the necessary steps to that end. A tremendous scope of work had been accomplished in a short period: the transport infrastructure had been rebuilt from scratch and an international airport had been commissioned in the town of Fuzuli, Mrs Gafarova continued.

Sahiba Gafarova remembered the earmarked travel of the Moldovan delegation to our de-occupied lands and said, by the way, that they were going to be able to eyewitness both the tragic aftermath of the occupation policy of Armenia and the extensive restoration and rebuilding work of Azerbaijan being done over there. Soon enough, Garabagh will become one of the most flourishing corners of Azerbaijan, as the Chair of the Milli Majlis added with confidence.

Chairman of the Parliament of Moldova Igor Grosu thanked his Azerbaijani colleague Sahiba Gafarova for the invitation to visit our country and recalled their meeting on the sidelines of the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament in Athens last year. Moldova is interested in taking further its multi-faceted relations with Azerbaijan; our diplomatic relations are turning thirty this year, which occurrence is to give our interaction a good momentum to ensure its continued progress, in the opinion of Mr Grosu.

Moldova is supportive of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan invariably, Igor Grosu noted before telling Sahiba Gafarova that he was aware of the repair and rebuilding work afoot in the freed provinces of our country. So, the planned trip to those parts is a fine opportunity for him to get to know the projects under way there. The leader of the Moldovan Parliament also thanked Azerbaijan for its help to his country with the struggle against the coronavirus pandemic.

It was said further that it was necessary to deepen the bilateral inter-parliamentary relations. Igor Grosu lauded the activities of the Azerbaijani Diaspora in his country and said that there were splendid opportunities to undertake joint projects in Moldova, which sports an advantageous location on the very boundary of the EU.

There was an exchange of opinions about other matters of shared interest during this conversation, too.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis