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European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR)
News article3 February 2022Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations

Commissioners Simson and Várhelyi at the 8th Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

Commissioners for Energy, Kadri Simson, and Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, will be in Baku, Azerbaijan, to attend the 8th Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council tomorrow. This will be an opportunity to reaffirm the strategic energy partnership between the European Union and Azerbaijan and discuss the prospects of extending the Corridor to new energy markets, including the Western Balkans, and especially those where it could boost the coal phase-out. Commissioner Simson co-chairs the Advisory Council meeting with Azeri Minister of Energy, Parviz Shahbazov – they will meet also bilaterally and hold a press conference at the end. She will likewise meet Azeri Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Mukhtar Babayev, and Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Fatih Dönmez. While in Baku, Commissioner Várhelyi will hold a number of bilateral meetings, including to follow up on the implementation of the Economic and Investment Plan for the Eastern Partnership and its flagship initiatives for Azerbaijan presented during his last visit in July, as well as key issues of bilateral relations. Today, Commissioner Várhelyi will meet the President's diplomatic advisor Hikmet Hajiyev, and tomorrow with Minister of Economy, Mikayil Jabbarov, as well as with Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jeyhun Bayramov (followed by a joint press conference). In the margins of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council, the Commissioner will also meet the Trans Adriatic Pipeline Managing Director, Luca Schieppati, and a number of Western Balkans ministers together with Minister of Energy, Shahbazov. Audiovisual coverage of the visit will be available on EbS. More information on EU-Azerbaijan relations can be found here and here.

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