Czech-Azerbaijani relations
Bilateral relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia until December 31, 1992) recognized the independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan on January 8, 1992. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on January 29, 1993.
The Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Czech Republic was established on August 15, 2007. The Embassy of the Czech Republic in the Republic of Azerbaijan was established on December 1, 2009.
The official visit of the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan H. E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev to the Czech Republic on April 4-6, 2012, and the president of the Czech Republic H. E. Mr. Milos Zeman to Azerbaijan on September 15-17, 2015.
As a result of the dialogue between Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic at various levels, on 12 October 2011, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament adopted a resolution on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Azerbaijan's state independence. The document emphasized the unconditional recognition by the Czech Republic of the territorial integrity, state sovereignty and independence of our country, the Czech Republic's strategic partner and important role in the energy supply of Europe, as well as NATO's Partnership for peace and active member of the European Union's Eastern Partnership Programs.
On February 7, 2013, the Foreign Relations Committee of the Czech Chamber of Deputies unanimously adopted the Decision No. 219, condemning Armenia for the massacre of Khojaly residents.
The signing of the “Joint Declaration on strategic partnership between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic”in Baku on September 15, 2015 during the official visit of the president of the Czech Republic Milos Zeman to Azerbaijan was a significant event in bilateral relations.
The main export products from Azerbaijan to the Czech Republic are oil and oil products, and the main import products from the Czech Republic to Azerbaijan are machinery and equipment, electronic equipment, glass and chemical products.
Azerbaijan accounts for 85 per cent of Czech trade turnover with the countries of the South Caucasus. Azerbaijani oil accounts for about 30 per cent of Czech oil demand.
At present, 25 Czech companies operate in Azerbaijan in the fields of service, communication, trade, construction, infrastructure and transport. Czech companies in Azerbaijan cost $ 2 billion. they were involved in many state projects as contractors.
”The Joint Commission on economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Czech Republic " was established in 2011. The last meeting was held on January 18, 2017 in Baku.
The fact that Czech Republic is one of the fastest growing among the former socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe gave positive impetus to further expansion of this cooperation. Another important factor contributing to the deepening of relations between our countries is that the Czech Republic was one of the first to recognize the state independence of Azerbaijan. Official Prague, which adopted such an important decision in 1992 on January 8, not only made a significant contribution to the strengthening of independence of our republic, but also showed a high interest in cooperation with Azerbaijan, the leading state of the South Caucasus. Diplomatic relations between our countries were established on January 29, 1993, and in subsequent years mutually beneficial cooperation was established in a number of areas.
It should be said openly that the relations between the two post-socialist countries were not intensive until recent years, the contractual and legal basis of cooperation was limited to only 10 documents, one of which later ceased to exist. Among the signed documents were "Agreement on trade and economic cooperation between the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Republic of Czech Republic", "Protocol on cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Czech Republic", "Convention between the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and memorandum of understanding", "memorandum on cooperation in the field of protection of environment between the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of environment of the Republic of Czech Republic", "agreement on cooperation in the field of defense between the Ministry of defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of defense of the Czech Republic.
The working visit of great leader Heydar Aliyev to the Czech Republic for participation in NATO summit in 2002 and his meetings with officials of friendly countries led to the growth of dynamism in relations. Finally, the mutual launch of the embassies in 2007 opened good opportunities for the intensification of relations between the two countries and defining new priorities for cooperation.
One of the important factors of influence that gives a significant impetus to the rapid development of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic is the coincidence of the positions of both countries in international and regional issues. The Czech Republic is a favorable geopolitical area for Azerbaijan's access to Western Europe through the Transcaucasian transport and communication system. The rich oil and gas resources of Azerbaijan play an important role in the energy security of the friendly country, as well as in increasing the importance of Transit Communications. While energy security issues are seriously on the agenda, the official Czech Republic is particularly interested in participating in Nabucco and other strategically important energy projects, which will be implemented with the direct participation of Azerbaijan. Official Prague does not hide its desire to be an active participant in the process of exporting the rich
hydrocarbon resources of our republic to the Western markets and makes concrete proposals.
President Ilham Aliyev, who successfully continues the national leader's foreign policy course, also attaches great importance to relations with the Czech Republic. A number of agreements reached as a result of the program of rich visit of the president of the friendly country Vaclav Klaus to Azerbaijan are a clear manifestation of this. The useful discussions held during the visit revealed the existence of serious potential for deepening the relations between the Czech Republic and Azerbaijan, acting from the same position on various international and regional issues. One of the issues raised by the presidents of both countries during the visit is the need to expand existing relations using this potential to the maximum benefit.
Sultan Ibrahimli
