Skopje, 8 June 2023 (MIA) – Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi met Thursday with the Azerbaijani President’s Special Envoy, Elchin Amirbayov, and personally extended his greetings to the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan, Sahiba Gafarova, said Parliament in a press release.

According to the press release, Speaker Xhaferi voiced his conviction that in the coming period, work will be done with Azerbaijan on strengthening and intensifying bilateral communication, both through meetings at the highest level and between the parliamentary groups for cooperation in the two countries.

“Xhaferi stressed the opportunities for increasing economic and trade cooperation which remains at an unsatisfactory level, despite having great potential for improvement. He voiced the country’s interest in cooperating in the field of energy and joining the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, for which the country has strong support from the EU. Within the frameworks of the country’s OSCE Chairpersonship, Xhaferi said the country supports a peaceful resolution to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and overcoming of the Lachin corridor blockades,” said the press release.

The Special Envoy of the President of Azerbaijan, Amirbayov, who is on his first visit to North Macedonia, voiced his gratitude for the chance to visit Parliament and conveyed the greetings of President Ilham Aliyev to the country and Parliament.

Amirbayov stressed that his agenda is aimed at contributing to the intensification of the friendly relations between the two countries, as well as a more detailed introduction of Speaker Xhaferi to the security situation in Azerbaijan and the ongoing negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, for an end to the longstanding conflict between the two countries.

“Amirbayov agreed with Speaker Xhaferi that in the coming period the North Macedonia and Azerbaijan should invest joint efforts to strengthen cooperation in all fields, especially on an economic plan, and the development of air traffic and tourism between the two countries. He touched upon the importance of the Western Balkans for Azerbaijan in terms of energy connectivity with the gas corridors that pass through several countries,” said Parliament in the press release.

Photo: Parliament of North Macedonia