President Ilham Aliyev has received an Italian delegation led by Chairman of the European Policies Committee of the Senate, Senator Vannino Chiti.

Pointing to the multifaceted Italy-Azerbaijan relations and successful cooperation in a number of fields, President Ilham Aliyev underlined the importance of interparliamentary cooperation in further development of these ties.

Hailing fruitful cooperation between Azerbaijan and the European Union, the head of state recalled with pleasure President of the European Council Donald Tusk's and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini's successful visits to Azerbaijan as well as his meeting with Federica Mogherini in Vienna. President Ilham Aliyev noted that documents on Azerbaijan's strategic partnership with 8 European Union member states had already been signed and adopted, adding that Italy was one of these countries. Describing this as a good sign of cooperation between the two countries, the head of state noted that EU, its member states and Azerbaijan attached great importance to this cooperation.

Expressing his confidence that Senator Vannino Chiti`s visit to Azerbaijan would be successful, President Ilham Aliyev hailed the importance of the visit in terms of discussing bilateral and EU-Azerbaijan relations.

Senator Vannino Chiti described Azerbaijan as one of the important countries both for the EU and Italy. "Azerbaijan's importance is not limited to its natural resources. Azerbaijan is a Muslim country and a secular state and it is of pivotal significance," the Italian Senator said.

He also noted that Azerbaijan was confidently fighting against terrorism, extremism and radicalism.

Senator Vannino Chiti emphasized the friendly ties between Azerbaijan and Italy as a good example of bilateral relations.