What lends a strong impetus to the strengthening of relations, opined Dr Orlic, is the exceptional personal relationship of the presidents of Serbia and Azerbaijan, Aleksandar Vucic and Ilham Aliyev, during whose recent visit to Belgrade the two presidents signed the Memorandum on the Establishment of the Council for Strategic Partnership between the two countries. Ambassador Khasiyev stressed that said Memorandum was the only document of this kind that Azerbaijan has signed with a European country, which clearly speaks of closeness and openness for further improvement of cooperation in all areas.

Dr Orlic thanked Azerbaijan for respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia and for its principled position of non-recognition of so-called "Kosovo". Speaking about the difficult situation in the southern Serbian province, he said that life has become impossible for Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija. "The people no longer want to suffer the terror and lies about the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities, a basic obligation from the Brussels Agreement ten years in the waiting. The people also face physical attacks, they are arrested without reason or evidence, all in order to send a message to other Serbs: "We can do whatever we want, there is no life for you here and it is best to disappear." That is Kurti's goal - to drive the Serbian people out of the Republic of Kosovo," said Dr Orlic, adding: "It is clear to everyone, even those who find it difficult to admit it, that President Aleksandar Vucic represents the party that is fighting for peace in the face of impossible conditions and Kurti always the only side that tries to destroy peace. Pristina even brazenly demands a reward for its inhumane behaviour in the form of membership in international organisations. Whoever supports this, directly supports the destruction of peace and the trampling of all agreements".

Ambassador Khasiyev confirmed that the excellent bilateral relations between Serbia and Azerbaijan are based primarily on the insistence of the two countries to respect international public law and the territorial integrity and sovereignty of every country. "Without it, there is no country, nor security, and our position on respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia is clear and principled," Ambassador Khasiyev said.

In the course of the meeting, the officials expressed readiness to further deepen and strengthen overall cooperation, with a special focus on the areas of economy, energy and agriculture. They also announced that they would work together on the intensification of interparliamentary cooperation, which the activities and contacts of parliamentary friendship groups would contribute to. The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia expressed satisfaction with the participation of the delegation of Azerbaijan in the 60th General Assembly of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, held in Belgrade last week.