Hungarian president to visit Azerbaijan

Hungarian President Pal Schmitt will visit Azerbaijan. The visit is scheduled for the second half of the year, Hungarian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Jolt Cutore  said.

The sides have already begun preparations for the visit through diplomatic channels.

It is the Hungarian president’s first visit to Azerbaijan. During the visit, the development of bilateral and regional cooperation is expected to be discussed.

It is expected that the talks will focus on the development of Azerbaijan’s cooperation with the European Union, which is chaired by Hungary from January.

Hungary has assumed the chairmanship of the Council of Ministers in Brussels in the first half of 2011 for the first time since joining the EU.

Hungary has chosen strengthening the Eastern Dimension of the European Neighborhood Policy as one of the priorities within which Hungary will lead the second summit of the Eastern Partnership in May.

The Eastern Partnership envisages the political and economic approximation of six post-Soviet states - Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus and Armenia with the EU.

The program does not envisage opportunities for EU membership, but instead envisages facilitating the visa regime, energy cooperation, and the introduction of free trade zones. Small projects on student exchange, environmental protection, and energy supply will also be implemented.

According to the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee, the volume of trade turnover with Hungary amounted to $14.3 million last year.


/Trend/