AZERI AMBASSADOR TO ITALY ACCREDITED IN MALTA
He first conveyed to Maltese President the greetings and best wishes from the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev saying the Azeri leader attaches particular importance to deepening ties with Malta.
President Fenech-Adami expressed hope that this appointment would contribute to development of Azerbaijan-Malta relationship.
Ambassador Kerimov, for his part, assured he would do his best for strengthening friendly relations between the two countries.
Describing the current situation in Azerbaijan, the Ambassador noted that his country is following the path towards democratization of society in close cooperation with the world’s leading countries and authoritative international organizations. He said that integration into the West is a priority direction of the Azerbaijan’s foreign policy. “Azerbaijan is the full member of the Council of Europe, active participant of the European Union’s New Neighborhood Policy and the NATO’s Partnership for Peace Program, and is preparing the individual partnership Plan aiming to expand its ties with the mentioned international structures,” he said.
Ambassador Kerimov informed the Maltese President about economic and political reforms, as well as world-scale energy and transport projects being implemented in Azerbaijan. He also pointed to intensive progress seen in the country’s non-oil sector including construction, tourism, telecommunications and consumer services. The Ambassador added that his country attaches importance to development of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Malta.
President Fenech-Adami called for development of cooperation between the two countries in both bilateral format and within international organizations. Having noted that his country imports energy carriers from Italy, he said he was aware that Azerbaijan is an oil and gas country, and expected to be a large oil importer.
Asked about the date of commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, Ambassador Kerimov replied this strategic pipeline is expected to start operating in the next few months, and in a year will be capable to carry up to 50 million tons of oil. He added that Azerbaijan is also going to become a gas transporter as soon as the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline is finished.
Touching upon the continuing conflict over Nagorny Karabakh, Ambassador Kerimov let the President know that the Armenian military aggression against Azerbaijan had led to occupation of 20% Azeri territories, and over million refugees and internally displaced persons.
The Maltese President expressed regret that the conflict has not yet been resolved saying its settlement would make a great contribution to strengthening peace and security in the South Caucasus.
Ambassador Emil Kerimov and President of Malta Edward Fenech-Adami also exchanged views on a number of other issues of mutual interest.
Other news in this section
