As part of a working visit to Belgium, President Ilham Aliyev met with permanent representatives of NATO member states to the North Atlantic Council in Brussels on 15 February.

The President made remarks at the meeting.

Speaking about the development path covered by Azerbaijan in the 20 years since the country regained its independence, the President said the country had successfully completed political, economic, social and other reforms.

President Ilham Aliyev stressed that the successful reforms carried out in Azerbaijan, the restoration of political and economic stability and the strengthening of the political system have led to a rapid economic development and paved the way for major investment. Azerbaijan, a country possessing ample reserves of oil and gas today, is playing an important part in European energy security.

The economic development dynamics shows that we will achieve all our goals, the President of Azerbaijan said. Stressing that underlying the country’s achievements was a prudent policy, President Aliyev spoke about Azerbaijan’s foreign political successes and pointed to the strengthening international standing.

The President emphasized that Azerbaijan enjoys great confidence in the world today and the country's election to the UN Security Council is highly important from this standpoint.

The President of Azerbaijan pointed to Azerbaijan’s successful cooperation with international organizations, including NATO.

Touching upon the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, President Ilham Aliyev reiterated the position of our country. He said the conflict should be resolved within the framework of international law, solely on the basis of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Speaking next were permanent representatives of NATO member states. They said their countries support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Touching upon Azerbaijan’s cooperation with NATO, the permanent representatives praised our country’s participation in the peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan. They said their respective countries attach great importance to relations with Azerbaijan.

Speaking about the economic development of Azerbaijan, the speakers emphasized the country’s important role in European energy security.

Then, President Ilham Aliyev responded to questions from heads of permanent missions about the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan’s role in the energy security of Europe, etc.