Azerbaijani, Hungarian FMs meet in Baku

Azerbaijan`s Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov has met with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Peter Szijjártó, who is on a working visit to Baku.

The meeting started in tête-à-tête format and later continued with the participation of delegations in an extended format.

During the meeting, the Azerbaijani FM cordially greeted his Hungarian counterpart and received congratulations from Minister Peter Szijjártó.

The ministers hailed the development of existing strategic cooperation between the two countries and stressed that efforts would be made for further strengthening bilateral relations in a number of areas, including economy, trade, education, culture, tourism, health and etc.

Minister Bayramov briefed his counterpart on the situation in the region, especially the recent provocations by Armenia, and stated that the main reason for the escalation of tensions in the region is the occupation of the Azerbaijani territories by Armenia for about 30 years. Referring to the strong position of the international community on this issue, Jeyhun Bayramov stated that, unfortunately, adopted decisions and resolutions were not implemented, and that double standard was observed in the issue. Briefing his counterpart on the latest military provocation of Armenia on the border and the current situation in the region, FM Bayramov noted that the only way for ensuring lasting peace, security and prosperity in the region is the withdrawal of armed forces of the aggressor state from the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and seven adjacent regions, as required by UN Security Council resolutions and relevant decisions and documents of other organizations.

Expressing concern over the current situation in the region, FM Peter Szijjártó stressed that Hungary’s position on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is clear and unchangeable and that Hungary strongly supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders. As for the double standards demonstrated by the international community, Minister Szijjártó noted that this approach is also observed by Hungary, noting that the principle of mutual respect underlies Hungarian foreign policy.

The two ministers stressed the importance of international cooperation and solidarity in the context of the current pandemic. Minister Peter Szijjártó noted with satisfaction that Hungary supported the initiative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan to hold a special UN session on combating COVID-19 and expressed appreciation of his country for the initiative to hold a session to combat the pandemic, which distresses the whole world. In this regard, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov thanked Hungary for the support of the initiative of the President of Azerbaijani to hold a special UN session on the COVID-19 pandemic.

The sides exchanged views on the important role of Azerbaijan in the diversification of Europe’s energy supply, especially gas supply. The Hungarian minister expressed his country`s interest in benefiting from gas supply projects implemented with the initiative and participation of Azerbaijan.

The issues of expanding the treaty-legal framework between the two countries were also discussed at the meeting.

The FMs expressed confidence that the dynamics of existing positive visits and exchanges between the two countries will continue in the future.

The ministers also spoke about the importance of cooperation within the Turkic Council and stressed that support and cooperation within other international organizations will be continued.

Touching upon Azerbaijan’s relations with the European Union, Peter Szijjártó noted that Hungary supports the early completion of negotiations on a new agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan.

Peter Szijjártó also invited his Azerbaijani counterpart to pay an official visit to Budapest after the normalization of the situation about the pandemic.

Following the meeting, the FMs signed “Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of health and medical science between the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Human Capacities of Hungary”, “Memorandum of Understanding between the State Tax Service under the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the National Tax and Customs Administration of Hungary on exchange of information and assistance in the recovery of tax claims” and “Agreement between the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry for Innovation and Technology of Hungary on cooperation in the field of health industry”.