Latvia keen to promote relations with Azerbaijan in European space
Riga, November 5 (AZERTAC). Latvia is interested in promoting relations with Azerbaijan in the European space, Latvia’s Secretary of State Andris Teikmanis said while meeting member of the Azerbaijani Parliament, Head of the Interparliamentary Friendship Group Rovshan Rzayev on Monday in Riga.
The Latvian official said, “Azerbaijan is a key partner of Latvia in the South Caucasus… One of the priorities of Latvia's policy during its EU presidency in 2015 will be the development of dialogue and partnership with the countries which are not members of the EU.”
Talking about Latvia’s energy projects Teykmanis stressed that the main goal of these projects is to diversify energy supplies without isolating anyone to improve market relations.
The Secretary of State said that the visit of Azerbaijani deputies opened a new page of cooperation between the parliaments of the two countries.
Speaking about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Secretary of State said that Latvia supports the negotiation process, as well as the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Noting that Latvia supports the position of OSCE on the inviolability of borders, Teykmanis said that unilateral steps to change the boundaries are not legitimate. “Latvia hopes for an early resolution of the conflict,” said Latvian official.
Rovshan Rzayev, in turn, said Azerbaijan highly values Latvia’s support of Azerbaijan’s position in international organizations. He said, Azerbaijan is living in a state of undeclared war with Armenia, and the position of Latvia within the framework of international law is very important. Noting that Azerbaijan always declared its willingness to solve the problem by peace, Rzayev stressed that the OSCE Minsk Group can not find the solution to this dispute.
The Azeri MP also brought to the attention of Latvian official that traveling to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan without a permission of Azerbaijan is illegal. The Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan are currently under the illegal occupation by the Republic of Armenia. The illegal nature of this occupation is widely recognized by the international community, including the United Nations Security Council. The laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan prohibit visiting the occupied territories without the explicit consent of Azerbaijani authorities.
Azerbaijani MP said that exploitation of Khojaly airport by Armenia also harms the negotiation process.
The meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia was attended by the ambassador of Azerbaijan to Latvia Elman Zeynalov.
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