Jeyhun Bayramov, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, participated and delivered remarks at the high-level dialogue of 4th European Conference on Azerbaijan Studies held in the Austrian city of Vienna.
The event, which is being held annually since 2022, convened policymakers, think-tanks, academicians, and independent experts from 12 European countries.
In his remarks, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov hailed this event as an indicator of growing interest in Azerbaijan, its foreign policy, and its role in the South Caucasus.
The Minister provided insight into the important diplomatic initiatives put forward by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev over the past period, highlighting the regional and international significance of the efforts.
FM Bayramov briefed participants on the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the Washington Summit held on August 8 and its outcomes, as well as Azerbaijan’s successful chairmanship of multilateral platforms such as COP29, the Economic Cooperation Organization, and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), describing these initiatives as an indicator of Azerbaijan’s regional leadership status.
Highlighting that Azerbaijan, as the victorious party, proposed a peace initiative after the 44-day Patriotic War, Minister Bayramov noted that the closure of the Minsk Group and its related structures, which had been operating fruitlessly for more than three decades, was the result of the head of state’s far-sighted strategy, emphasizing that this was an important step towards the sustainable peace in the region.
Jeyhun Bayramov also informed the event participants about Azerbaijan’s relations with the U.S., China, Russia, the European Union, and neighboring countries.
Touching upon the cooperation with the European Union, the Minister emphasized that Azerbaijan is a strategic and reliable partner of Europe in the field of energy, including renewable energy. The Minister also underscored the growing dynamics of Azerbaijan’s cooperation with the Central Asian countries and its importance for the development of the Middle Corridor, noting that Europe attaches particular importance to its partnership with Azerbaijan in this regard.
Noting that Azerbaijan is collaborating with its international partners based on independent, equal, and sovereign interests, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov mentioned that the country’s relations with Europe are developing in this direction.