Georgia, Azerbaijan strengthen strategic partnership

Georgia and Azerbaijan are continuing to exchange high-profile visits with the intention of further intensifying the strategic partnership of the two neighbouring countries.

Georgia’s Vice Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili is in Baku on an official visit and met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister Artur Rasizade earlier this morning.

"The meetings were held in a very warm and friendly atmosphere,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The agency said the parties reconfirmed Georgia and Azerbaijan’s strategic partnership and expressed readiness to boost bilateral relations.

The officials expressed interest in intensifying the partnership to jointly implement energy and transport projects, with the Southern Gas Corridor initiative specifically stressed in this regard.

The Southern Gas Corridor is an initiative of the European Commission to ensure a reliable gas supply from the Caspian and Middle Eastern regions to Europe. Under this project Georgia and Azerbaijan have a key role in strengthening Europe’s energy security.

While in Baku, Kvirikashvili will also meet his Azerbaijani counterpart and other local high officials.

Kvirikashvili’s Azerbaijan visit came after Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili paid a visit to Baku earlier this month. During Garibashvili’s visit, the Azerbaijani President announced he would come to Georgia in November.