Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov received Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov received the delegation led by Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström, who is on a working visit to Azerbaijan.
At the meeting, the sides expressed their satisfaction with current status of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Sweden and exchanged views on further development of the relations in the field of tourism, economics and business. The sides also discussed the format and further perspectives of the relationship between EU and Azerbaijan and noted the great potential in this direction.
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov touched upon the situation in the South Caucasus region and stressed that even though the status quo does not change Sweden's active efforts as a member of the OSCE Minsk Group are much appreciated. Further he highlighted that the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno Karabakh conflict still remains unresolved due to an aggressive and non-constructive position of Yerevan and added that this situation constitutes a major threat for peace and security in the region. He also emphasized that for the settlement of the conflict, first and foremost, Armenia must withdraw its forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan as demanded by the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.
Expressing the position of Sweden on Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict Mrs.Wallström informed that her country supports the peaceful resolution of the conflict in the frame of OSCE Minsk Group. She also informed that as a member of Minsk Group Sweden is ready to contribute to this position and mentioned the importance of involving more women in the process of conflict resolution. Minister Wallström noted that co-chairs are the main players in the negotiation process, however the efforts of all sides would be useful to resolve the conflict. Mrs.Wallström stressed that the settlement of the conflict is possible only by respecting universally recognized norms and principles of international law.
During the meeting Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammaryarov and Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström signed "Convention between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income".
