Ilham Aliyev and President of the European Council António Costa Make Press Statements

On March 11, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the European Council António Costa made statements to the press.

The head of our state spoke first.

Statement by President Ilham Aliyev

Dear Mr. President,
Dear guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I welcome the President of the European Council. I am very pleased to welcome you, Mr. President. Last year, we met twice and held very productive discussions. As you may recall, I invited you to visit Azerbaijan. I am grateful to you for accepting my invitation. We attach great importance to your visit. I am confident that it will play a significant role in the further development of our bilateral relations, which have been progressing very successfully, especially in recent times. We maintain a very active dialogue. Members of the European Commission have visited us several times last year and this year. In other words, we are in an active phase of partnership at various levels. I reviewed some economic indicators, and in January of this year, 50 percent of our trade turnover was with the European Union. Last year, this figure was slightly lower, but it truly demonstrates that the European Union is our number one trading partner. I am confident that with new projects and new investment opportunities—and investments are flowing in both directions, as we are now also actively investing in Europe—our trade turnover will undoubtedly grow.

An important component of our partnership has always been, is, and undoubtedly will continue to be cooperation in the field of energy, especially since 2022, when we signed a document on strategic energy partnership with the European Commission. Since then, we have increased gas exports to European countries both in terms of volume and the number of countries. Today, ten member states of the European Union receive gas from Azerbaijan, and the total number of such countries is sixteen. In this regard, we also hold the first place in the world for pipeline gas supplies. Today, sixteen countries receive Azerbaijani gas, and our role in ensuring the energy security of many countries is growing.

The European market accounts for half of our total gas exports and has potential for growth. At the beginning of this month, we held the annual meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council—an event co-organized by Azerbaijan and the European Commission. In my speech there, I informed the audience that we plan to increase gas production this year. We will start production at a new field. And in two to three years, if everything goes according to plan, we will have at least an additional 10 billion cubic meters of gas—more than we have today.

Another direction of our energy cooperation is renewable energy, which also holds great potential. We are actively investing in wind, solar, and hydropower. Our plan is to have 6 to 8 gigawatts of renewable energy ready for export within five to six years. Therefore, we are currently working with European partners on issues related to the laying of power transmission lines, underwater cables, and other segments of energy infrastructure.

Today, when you arrived, we both noted that it is a very sunny day in Baku, which means spring is coming. In fact, we have more than three hundred sunny days a year, and perhaps even more windy days. So, as you can imagine, Azerbaijan has enormous potential for wind and solar energy. Of course, we aim for closer interaction, as reaching the European continent requires cooperation with many countries while adhering to all transit agreements. And, of course, another important component of our bilateral portfolio is connectivity, especially now, after we reached a peace agreement with Armenia, which has been initialed. It is clear that new opportunities for expanding the Middle Corridor enhance our optimism.

As I told Mr. President, we have lived in peace for only seven months. Our independence was restored in 1991, and we have lived in peace for just seven months. But we are already feeling the benefits of this, and I am confident that peace with Armenia will be eternal. We have already started trade. We have begun supplying critical petroleum products to the republic. We have lifted all restrictions on the transit of goods from other countries to Armenia through Azerbaijani territory. This once again demonstrates our firm political will, as we have achieved peace not only on paper—the document was initialed by both countries—but also on the ground. This is also important because sometimes documents remain on paper for a long time. In our case, from the last bloody military clash with Armenia in September 2023 to the establishment of peace in August 2025, less than two years have passed. I think this is the best indicator that nations and peoples can reconcile if both sides demonstrate political will and commitment to peace. There is nothing better than peace. Believe me, we know what it is like to live in conditions of war or to be in a state of war.

Therefore, countries like ours value peace, perhaps more than any others.

Thus, our agenda is indeed very broad. We, of course, discussed security issues in the region close to our borders. We will continue our discussions later today.

Once again, thank you, Mr. President, for being with us, and I wish you a pleasant stay.