Serbian Assembly Speaker Ana Brnabic met today with Azerbaijani Parliament Speaker Sahiba Gafarova and thanked her for Azerbaijan's respecting Serbia's territorial integrity and considering Kosovo-Metohija an integral part of our state. "For us, this is a bond that we cherish above all else and is a sign of our continued friendship and gratitude," Brnabic said.
At a press conference in Baku, she stressed that the goal of the visit to Azerbaijan is to strengthen political and parliamentary ties between the two countries and continue dialogue on improving economic ties.
Brnabic recalled that since November 2022, thanks to the initiative of the presidents of the two countries, Aleksandar Vucic and Ilham Aliyev, the cooperation between the two countries has been raised to the level of strategic partnership, and that it is therefore not surprising that high-level visits are held once a year. "As for our strategic partnership, it is our wish to hold the first meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council in Belgrade in the coming weeks," said Brnabic.
The Parliament Speaker pointed out that economic cooperation has significantly intensified in the last five years, adding that the exchange of goods between Serbia and Azerbaijan has increased by as much as 24 times, but she also assessed that it is far below what the two countries can achieve together. Stating that energy is one of the key resources that drives the world today, Brnabic said that Serbia is grateful to Azerbaijan and President Aliyev for the development and strengthening of the energy partnership. "The construction of the gas interconnection with Bulgaria at the end of 2023 enabled Serbia to start importing gas from Azerbaijan," Brnabic reminded. She added that Serbia is interested in further developing the partnership in this regard and that two projects are currently key, one of which is the construction of a gas-fired thermal power plant in the city of Nis, which would represent an investment of up to 600 million euros, and the estimated annual gas consumption would be approximately 600 million cubic meters. "Secondly, negotiations on the gas agreement are ongoing and we hope to be able to finalise them in the near future," Brnabic said. She pointed to the excellent cooperation with the company Azvirt, which is participating in some of the key infrastructure projects in Serbia.
Brnabic also noted that parliamentary cooperation is excellent and that the Serbian Parliament has set up a Friendship Group with Azerbaijan, boasting 34 MPs. She said that the two countries also enjoy cooperation in the field of education. "For the first time, we have your students studying in Serbia as recipients of our scholarships and vice versa," said Brnabic.
Source: TANJUG
