Minister Lajčák on official visit to Azerbaijan

At the end of his tour in the South Caucasus region, Miroslav Lajčák, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, paid an official visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan. Together with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, they assessed the state of projects designed to strengthen Europe’s energy security, as well as extending bilateral trade and investment cooperation between Slovakia and Azerbaijan. With Prime Minister Artur Rasizade, they identified prospective areas of cooperation like construction, energy, agriculture, as well as tourism.

Slovakia strives for balanced relations with the countries in this region, which was confirmed by the head of Slovak diplomacy at the meeting with his Azerbaijan counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov. “Slovakia wants to talk openly with Azerbaijan, as well as our other partners in this region about all issues. We sincerely care about the development of relations in the region, as well as about building mutual trust – especially in solving the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh,” stated the head of Slovak diplomacy. In this regard, Minister Lajčák emphasized the need for renewing the negotiation process.

In the bilateral sphere, Minister Lajčák conveyed Slovakia’s interest in the intensification of mutual political dialogue, completing the legal and contractual basis, as well as development of economic relations between our countries, which is by no means fully utilized. This was also the reason for a group of entrepreneurs being part of the Minister´s Lajčák delegation, which explored opportunities for deepening mutual cooperation. We can see the biggest opportunities in energy, modernization of the transport infrastructure, production cooperation, as well as in agriculture and tourism.

The head of Slovak diplomacy stated that the Eastern Partnership project is one of Slovakia’s foreign policy priorities. The Slovak Republic is ready and willing to share experiences in terms of the transformation of society with Azerbaijan partners. Lajčák expressed the conviction that the upcoming Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius will be successful and will confirm the viability of this initiative. “I would like to appreciate the attitude of Azerbaijan in securing the EU energy security and the interest in participating in projects that provide for the diversification of energy supplies to Europe,” he stressed. In this regard he offered Slovakia help in transporting Caspian gas and oil to European markets. (You can find the voice recording from the press conference of both ministers on the website of the ministry.)

At the end of his stay in Baku, Minister Lajčák will give an address at the first world-wide forum of graduates of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) tomorrow (April 12, 2013). MGIMO is his former alma mater.

SOURCE: © Ministerstvo zahraničných vecí a európskych záležitostí Slovenskej republiky