President Klaus Iohannis was received on Thursday by his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, at the Zugulba Presidential Palace in Baku.
The Romanian head of state, who is on a two-day official visit to Azerbaijan, was welcomed with military honors.
The delegation accompanying President Iohannis includes Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu, Energy Minister Virgil Popescu, head of the Romanian Intelligence Service Eduard Hellvig, and presidential advisors Cosmin Marinescu, Luminita Odobescu, Daniela Barsan and Delia Dinu.
The two presidents had one-on-one and official talks, at the end of which they made joint press statements.
According to the Presidential Administration, during their political consultations, the two presidents are to enter details of the development of bilateral cooperation in areas such as energy, transport, trade, investments, digitization, agriculture, education and culture.
The stage of the implementation of regional interconnection projects, such as the undersea power transmission cable, will also be assessed, and the initiation of similar digital projects will be approached. Another topic of discussion refers to the expansion of cooperation on strategic initiatives between Europe and Central Asia, using Romania and the Republic of Azerbaijan’s role as connecting bridges.
The visit to Baku takes place at the invitation of President Ilham Aliyev.
On Friday, the Romanian president will open together with his Azerbaijani counterpart the Ministerial Meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor, to also be attended by European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson. President Iohannis will also lay a wreath at the Heroes Memorial in Baku.
President Iohannis: Romgaz and Socar will sign a new contract for the delivery of Azerbaijani natural gas to Romania
President Klaus Iohannis stated that he agreed with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, to develop bilateral cooperation in areas such as energy, trade, transport, investments, digitization, agriculture, education and culture and announced that the companies Romgaz and Socar will sign on Friday a new contract for the delivery of Azerbaijani natural gas to Romania for the period April 1, 2023 – April 1, 2024.
“Today, we reiterated Romania’s openness and interest in deepening the Strategic Partnership between our countries, as well as in the development of strategic projects with regional impact. We agreed to support the development of bilateral cooperation in areas such as energy, trade, transport, investments, digitization, agriculture and very importantly, education and culture. I thanked Mr. President Ilham Aliyev for the start by Azerbaijan of the export of additional gas to Romania, from January 1, 2023. I am also glad that tomorrow the signing by the two companies – Romgaz and Socar – of a new contract for the period April 1, 2023 – April 1, 2024 will take place,” the head of state said on Thursday after the meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart.
He emphasized that both the Southern Gas Corridor and the future submarine cable for transporting electricity produced in Azerbaijan from renewable sources, projects supported by the European Commission as well, will contribute significantly to ensuring the energy security of the European Union.
The two presidents also agreed on the further development of other projects with regional impact, such as those in the digital field.
“Romania and Azerbaijan will continue to work to expand cooperation and strategic initiatives between Europe, the South Caucasus, but also Central Asia. As we discussed in Bucharest, the two countries ensure and will develop the link between Europe and the South Caucasus,” said President Iohannis.
According to the head of the Romanian state, the South Caucasus is a region of strategic importance for Romania and the European Union. He recalled that Azerbaijan is the first country in the South Caucasus region with which Romania raised relations to the level of Strategic Partnership, in 2009.
“In addition, our country is the first member state of the European Union to conclude such a partnership with Azerbaijan. (…) Romania and Azerbaijan have excellent political-diplomatic relations, developed over three decades. The year 2022 marked a strong dynamism of contacts, culminating with the visit of Mr. President Ilham Aliyev to Bucharest, on the occasion of the signing of the Agreement between the Governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary regarding the Strategic Partnership in the field of development and transport of green energy, on December 17,” Iohannis also said.
The two officials also discussed the impact of Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine and the situation in the Black Sea region.
“In this complicated context, I highlighted that solidarity becomes even more important and I appreciated Azerbaijan’s conduct regarding regional energy security. Thus, regional cooperation and the diversification of sources and transport routes are also key principles underlying projects such as the Southern Gas Corridor. We count on reliable partners like Azerbaijan for the advancement of such solutions,” added president Iohannis.
He emphasized that Romania is a sincere and honest friend of Azerbaijan.
“Romania has a clear position, based on the principles of international law, including the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states recognized by the UN,” the head of state also affirmed.
President Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijan will use opportunities in Romania to export gas to other European markets
By signing a new contract between Romgaz and Socar for the delivery of natural gas, all opportunities in Romania will be used to export Azerbaijani gas to other European markets, on Thursday said Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev.
“We are stepping into a new phase. Last month, in Bucharest, an agreement was signed to deliver the Azerbaijani gas to Romania. We will address other European markets through you and we will use all these opportunities from Romania to export gas from Azerbaijan and beyond”, said the Azerbaijani president, after meeting with the Romanian president, Klaus Iohannis, who announced that on Friday a new contract will be signed between Romgaz and Socar for the delivery of Azerbaijani natural gas to Romania for the period April 1, 2023 – April 1, 2024.
The president of Azerbaijan recalled that the last segment of the Southern Gas Corridor was put into operation two years ago and that last year the Strategic Partnership with the EU on gas was signed.
“We will increase the export volumes, this is our priority”, the Azerbaijani president said, according to Agerpres.
He stressed the importance of green energy and reiterated that the Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council will take place on Friday.
Noting that the ports of Baku and Constanta are important, Ilham Aliyev stressed: Let’s improve cooperation between these two locations.
The Azerbaijani president pointed out that the political dialogue between Romania and Azerbaijan is very dynamic.
“As far as the economy is concerned, the trade is showing the results, the volume has doubled, but it is not at the volume we want it yet, because most of our trade is represented by oil and then we have to diversify these volumes, to make the next steps. (…) In the economic sphere we have again very good results and we can have even better results in the field of energy, which is a key element not only for the Romanian-Azerbaijani relationship, but is currently on the global agenda”, Ilham Aliyev said.
Compiled from Agerpres
Photo: www.presidency.ro
