Belgrade, February 15, AZERTAC

The first meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Serbia was held in Belgrade on February 15, with the participation of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić.

First, the President of the Republic of Serbia delivered a speech.

Speech by President Aleksandar Vučić

- Distinguished President and dear friend, Mr. Ilham Aliyev,

Distinguished ministers in the Government of Azerbaijan and ministers in the Government of Serbia,

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

It gives me an honor to open the first session of the Strategic Partnership Council between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. The special symbolism of today's meeting and Council session is that it is taking place on the most important day for the Republic of Serbia – national holiday, the Statehood Day – which we celebrate with our closest friends, President Ilham Aliyev, and the guests from Azerbaijan.

This session is a turning point in our bilateral relations and a clear proof of the joint political will to put the relations between our two countries at the highest strategic level. Let me remind you that this Council stemmed from the joint vision and the agreement with my dear friend, President Ilham Aliyev. The Republic of Serbia has meetings in such a format with only a few countries.

Allow me to particularly underline that the presence of President Aliyev, as well as high-level officials and ministers in both the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Serbia, speaks clearly about the importance that both sides attach to this Council. I am convinced that our work today will be aimed at concrete results, clear arrangements, and a vision of long-term cooperation. I'll make my introductory speech much shorter, and I'm begging at least Serbian ministers to do the same, because we cannot be late with our addresses to journalists. And please be respectful of that. I wanted to add just a few things.

Dear friend, Mr. President, and dear friends from Azerbaijan, we are very much determined to develop the very best strategic partnership with our friendly country, Azerbaijan. And we'll devote ourselves to that, which means that we'll work diligently in order to improve our relations in all different fields, in all different spheres. And, as it always goes with friends, we'll face some hurdles, we'll face some issues, but we'll always be able to resolve them. And what will never expire is our desire for friendship, for creating better relationships, and for interconnecting with each other much faster and much stronger.

We are going to open a direct flight line very soon between Belgrade and Baku, which will connect us much better than it used to be in the past. At the same time, in all different fields – culture, sports, economy, agriculture, industry, military-technical cooperation – I'm absolutely sure that we'll reach the ceiling of possible relationships between any two countries in the world. I also wanted to add just one more thing. I learned a lot from Ilham Aliyev, my dear friend, not only today, but that’s why I spent more time than expected even today. I always use that opportunity to learn more from him, and I plan to do so in the future as well. I know that he's a very dedicated friend, and I know that we can expect many good things from Azerbaijan. I believe that Azerbaijani people can always expect only good things from Serbia and the Serbian people. And I'm begging you, Serbian ministers, to be as diligent and dedicated as our Azerbaijani counterparts. I wish you good work.

I'm going to visit Azerbaijan relatively soon again, and before that, we need to deliver many results. I was discussing, Dubravka in particular, the issue of the gas-fired power plant with President Aliyev. And I was begging the President to participate personally in that issue, because I was saying very honestly what we are able to do and what we are not able to deliver on. I got guarantees from Mr. President that he himself will be very helpful on this. After we finish this pre-feasibility study, we need to speed up all the other procedures and everything else.

Dear friends from Azerbaijan, please feel at home here in Serbia. You are very welcome. Dear President, I wish you, your family, your people, and your nation all the best, and hope to host you as often as possible. And it has to be more often. Many thanks, and very welcome to Serbia. Thank you.

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Then, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan made a speech.

Speech by President Ilham Aliyev

- Thank you. Dear Mr. President, dear friends. First of all, thank you for the invitation. I am very glad to be back in Serbia, and also grateful to my friend Aleksandar for taking the time for me, not only on Sunday, but also on the day of the national holiday. By the way, congratulations on the Statehood Day.

The very fact of that really demonstrates the level of sincerity between us: we don't have any borders, we don't have any time limits, and we don't have any reservations when we talk about our friendship and how to strengthen our cooperation.

I had an extensive discussion with my friend, the President. As always, I am very impressed with his vision, knowledge, and expertise about different aspects of today’s geopolitical situation in the Balkans and the Caucasus. The broader region is developing very rapidly, with a lot of unexpected scenarios. So we must be prepared, and we must also be in permanent contact in order to exchange views, exchange information, and share analyses about what is happening in order to achieve our targets to the maximum degree.

By the way, today, the Statehood Day is a day when we reflect on statehood. I want to congratulate the Serbian people and the President on their achievements in strengthening Serbian statehood. The country is developing successfully under the leadership of the President, strengthening its statehood and its state institutions. We are very glad to observe this because Azerbaijan and Serbia are very friendly countries. Today’s inaugural meeting of the Strategic Council is also a great illustration of the fact that what has been decided and agreed is being implemented. I am accompanied today by almost half of the members of the government. This in itself demonstrates that there are many things to discuss between members of delegations, between all of us. Prior to the visit of my friend Aleksandar to Azerbaijan, soon this year, we need to already have results from today’s visit. I ask all members of the Azerbaijani delegation to treat this with the maximum level of seriousness, so that, as always, what we agree on, we implement in a relatively short period of time.

Aleksandar has already identified the areas of partnership. If we look at the agenda, and also at today’s agenda of our session and the presentations by the corresponding ministers, we see that the agenda is getting broader. We not only work closely on the political track, on the international arena, but we also implement important projects for our economies and industries. President Vučić mentioned the construction of the power plant. I think this is an important indicator of how we diversify cooperation in the energy sector. We started with gas cooperation, and now we are moving toward the next stage – how to utilize this gas with maximum efficiency for both of us and convert it into the final product, electric energy. This will be one of the major Azerbaijani investments in Europe in recent years. This is also a demonstration of a high level of mutual trust, because you invest only in a country where you have good relations and trust your partners. You know that stability and development in Serbia under the wise leadership of Aleksandar Vučić will be an important factor for a long time. Taking into account that we need to be on time for the press statements, I also want to limit my comments to what I have said and give the opportunity to our teams to make their presentations. Once again, thank you for your hospitality and invitation.

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During the meeting, the co-chairs of the intergovernmental commissions and other relevant ministers presented their reports.

Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Serbia in the fields of energy, investments, renewable energy, tourism, agriculture, culture, and other areas was discussed.

The heads of state issued instructions to expand collaboration in these sectors and to present specific projects.

It was noted with satisfaction that direct Baku–Belgrade flights will commence in May of this year, with hopes that they will further promote humanitarian contacts and tourism between the two countries.

Subsequently, Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Aleksandar Vučić signed the Decision of the first meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Azerbaijan.