Agenda of EU President's Azerbaijan visit announced

During the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso's visit to Baku, scheduled for January 2011, several agreements are to be signed between the EU and Azerbaijan in various spheres, the EU ambassador to Azerbaijan Rolan Kobia  told reporters at a press conference on Barroso's visit.

"Agreements are still under coordination. Agreements will not be limited to the energy sector, they will also include a variety of issues of political dialogue between the EU and Azerbaijan," Kobia said.

The latter mentioned that European Energy Commissioner Günther Herrmann Oettinger will also visit Baku together with Barroso. According to him, the agreements could be signed between presidents Ilham Aliev and Barroso or at the ministerial level.

Kobia called the EU President's current visit to Azerbaijan as historic. According to him, this time Barroso will visit only Azerbaijan, specifically the countries of the South Caucasus region.

"The current visit is important, because it demonstrates that the EU and Azerbaijan have good relations not only at the level of state contacts, but also at the level of good friendly relations between President Barroso and President Aliyev," he said.

Kobia says Barroso will arrive upon President Ilham Aliyev's invitation, which was made during their last meeting in Brussels. Kobia also indicated the possibility of talks beginning early next year on easing the visa regime between the EU and Azerbaijan within the EU "Eastern Partnership" programme.

The ambassador noted that the European Commission's head attaches great importance to Azerbaijan's interest in facilitating travelling procedures between the countries.

"A lot of work has already been done in this direction, and we will continue to strive to facilitate the visa regime for a great number of citizens," Kobia said.

According to him, during his visit to Azerbaijan President Barroso plans to deliver a speech on Azerbaijan's European integration. The European Commission's office in Brussels told Trend that European Commission President José Manuel Barroso will visit Azerbaijan in early 2011.

During his visit to Baku, scheduled for January 13-14, Barroso will discuss economic and political aspects of cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan. The focus of talks will be on energy projects.

At the moment, Barroso is supposed to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Other details of the visit, including meetings with senior officials of Azerbaijan, are still being worked  out, said the European Commission.

Barroso's upcoming visit to Azerbaijan is the first visit during his stay as the head of the European Commission.


/Trend/

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