Azerbaijani Parliament Speaker, Bulgarian President hold meeting-UPDATED

Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova has had a meeting with President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev who is visiting in our country currently, Press and Public Relations Department of Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis told APA.

First, the President of Bulgaria was shown round the Milli Majlis plenary hall.

Then, the guests went to the Heydar Aliyev Museum at the Milli Majlis.

Saying then during the meeting that she was pleased to welcome the distinguished guest at the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova said she was confident that the visit would contribute to further strengthening and expansion of ties between our countries.

It was further said that Bulgaria and Azerbaijan are friendly states and strategic partners, and the importance of numerous high-level visits and meetings, both bilateral and participation in various events for the development of relations was emphasised. The significance of the reciprocal visits of the heads of the two states was stressed particularly.

President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev expressed content with the second visit to Azerbaijan and shared the impressions from his meeting with President Ilham Aliyev.

They talked about the importance of the serious documents signed today – those which will ensure a continued progress of the bilateral relations. The business forum held with the participation of Bulgarian business people was mentioned, too. The Joint Declaration of increasing the Strategic Partnership between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria will contribute substantially to the future strengthening and intensification of the bilateral ties, it was also said.

Describing the economic links as one of the chief components of those ties, they pointed up the large enough potential and numerous opportunities to take the inter-state co-operation further yet. They stressed the import of the co-operation in general and, in particular, of the energy co-operation. The Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria launched during President Ilham Aliyev’s official visit in 2022 turned a leaf in this interaction.

Saying that the Bulgarian-Azerbaijani co-operation contributes to the energy security of Europe, the Bulgarian President particularly touched upon the important role of Azerbaijan as a reliable partner of the European security architecture with regard to the energy security of the Continent. It was said that the Solidarity Ring that is being created on the initiative of the Bulgarian President will lead to further diversification of energy resources transportation and strengthen energy security of Europe. According to Rumen Radev, Azerbaijan plays an important role in the realisation of this project.

Broadening the interaction in the field of renewable energy resources alongside the traditional ones was brought up during the conversation in view of Azerbaijan’s relevant production and export capacity.

Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova commented on the significance of our inter-parliamentary interaction as one of the weighty factors of positive influence upon our two states’ bilateral and multilateral connexions. Sahiba Gafarova remembered her official visit to Bulgaria last year and the official visit of the Speaker of the National Assembly of Bulgaria to Azerbaijan in March this year, and expressed satisfaction with the meetings that had taken place during both. Then, she spoke about the valuable impact of the work done by the friendship groups on the on-going deepening of the inter-parliamentary ties.

The special relevance of the humanitarian co-operation, too, was underscored in view of the friendship between the peoples of Azerbaijan and Bulgaria. The pertaining bonds have been advancing successfully all these past years. The Memorandum of Understanding signed between Veliko Tarnovo and Shusha in 2022 is very consequential as well, it was agreed.

Then, there was an exchange of opinions about the forthcoming hosting by Azerbaijan of the 29th session of the Conferences of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change – COP29.

The distinguished guest congratulated our country on the approaching hosting of such a prestigious international event and said that Bulgaria stood prepared to help Azerbaijan hold the COP29 in every manner possible.

The meeting also saw an exchange of views upon development prospects of the inter-state and inter-parliamentary co-operation as well as other matters of shared interest.

*** 18:17

A meeting was held between Speaker of Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova and President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev, who is on an official visit to Azerbaijan, Sahiba Gafarova posted on her X account, APA reports.

"Honoured to meet with His Excellency Mr. Rumen Radev, the President of Bulgaria. This visit will undoubtedly give a strong impetus to the further development of relations between our countries," she noted in the post.