The relationships with Russia remain priority in Azerbaijans foreign policy. Id even call them the strategic partnership, the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, Elmar Mammadyarov, told a the Russian daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
Mammadyarov said that to much relate us, ranging from the common history and traditions, cultural and humanitarian similarities, even not to mention the economic interaction, cooperation in the sphere of security.
The Minister noted that the relations with Russian in different stages of our common post-Soviet history can be characterized differently, there were definite difficulties, which we overcame through joint efforts, but I would never call them formal," Mammadyarov said. The meeting of the two presidents in February, May, June and August provide to say that the relationships between Azerbaijan and Russia develop steadily. The head of state gave a pace that we try to maintain, he underlined.
The same time the minister announced that Azerbaijan declared it integration into the European organizations as one of priorities of its foreign policy. He noted that in December the Azerbaijani experts and their counterparts from the European Union started the discussions over an action plan under the EUs New Neighborhood Policy. According to Mammadov, an individual partnership plan on partnership with NATO intended to bring the current interaction with Azerbaijan under the Partnership for Peace Program t a qualitatively new stage, is actively implemented. Morever, Azerbaijan intensifies its participation in the OSCE and the Council of Europe," ITAR-TASS news agency reports.