On June 1, Moldova hosted the Second European Political Community Summit, which brought together heads of state and government from 47 countries, including Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The summit discussed such important issues as building peace and ensuring energy security, strengthening cooperation on the European continent, etc.
Report presents an interview with Moldovan Ambassador to Azerbaijan Alexandr Esaulenco, who spoke about the significance of this summit for his country, Azerbaijan’s role in ensuring Europe’s energy security and promising areas of bilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and Moldova.
Could you tell us more about the 2nd European Political Community Summit held recently in Chisinau, what significance did the summit have for Moldova?
When it comes to the second political community summit which was held on June 1 in Moldova, I would like to mention it as a summit about peace. We believe that Platform allowed bringing the whole European continent to a single place in Moldova. We are very proud of it because this event was of great importance to the Republic of Moldova. It shows to the whole world the unity of the European Union, unity of peace, and security which was discussed at the summit. I would like to mention that our president raised such important problems like security issues, energetics security, interconnectivity, and EU enlargement. As we know the subject of EU enlargement could be put on the agenda of European leadership this year and we expect it to become a further subject in negotiations between Moldova and the EU. It shows the strengthening relationships between EU countries, and at the same time agenda includes topics of support for Moldova and Ukraine, because it takes place near the borders between our countries, but the most important thing is it was successful in showing the whole world that Moldova is a peaceful and safe country at the same moment. And for my point of view, we need to continue this dialogue in order to bring peace to the European continent, in this context, I would like to appreciate the EU parliament, EU structures in order to support people who come from Ukraine and for the people who stay actually in Moldova.
What could you say about the bilateral cooperation between Moldova and Azerbaijan? What areas of cooperation do you think should be strengthened?
Moldova and Azerbaijan are very friendly and good partners and the energy field is the field of our great interest, last winter of 2022 and 2023 shows us the importance to have trustful partners and friends, and Azerbaijan has proved that it is a brother and friend country for Moldova and this challengeable period was successfully passed due to the very strong relations between Azerbaijan and Moldova. So, we are looking forward to developing this field and I would like to stress our interest in this project, I mean the submarine cable.
The Republic of Moldova is interested in cooperation in the field of information technology and in the digital economy: intensification of cooperation through the development of projects of common interest, especially in the field of e-government, including the exchange of experiences and advanced practices in these areas.
We would also like the participation of Azerbaijani companies from the IT sector in the activities of the first virtual IT park in the Republic of Moldova “Moldova IT Park”, as well as consideration of the possibility of becoming its virtual residents.
We are interested in the exchange of experience from an ASAN service as in this service Azerbaijan applies modern technologies.
Also, I would like to emphasize the importance of the DOST service which is a single platform for providing flexible, innovative and sustainable services and our desire to share experience and cooperate with this service.
As a result of the meeting of the Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Azerbaijan Sahil Babayev and the Minister of Labor of the Republic of Moldova Alexei Buzu, which took place this year and the signing of an Action Plan covering the work to be done in 2023-2024 in the directions of cooperation, we are interested in further cooperation in this area. We would like to emphasize that the goal of the plan is to share knowledge and best practices in the field of labor, employment and social protection, including the digitalization of labor inspection, employment measures and the process of providing employment to social protection services.
How can Moldova benefit from the project under the Black Sea signed between Azerbaijan, Romania, Georgia, and Hungary? Are there any other energy projects between Azerbaijan and Moldova?
I would like to stress the important role of Azerbaijan, all of us realize the real importance of diversifying energy supplies. And what we see, Azerbaijan is becoming one of the key partners of the EU in strengthening energy security, another project of potential interest is about green energy. We see the agreement between Romania, Georgia, Hungary and Azerbaijan as another interesting project in order to develop and strengthen security independence. Moldova is interested in being part of this important project.
What do you think about the expansion of economic cooperation between the countries? What kind of joint projects are being developed in this regard?
There is potential for the development of our bilateral cooperation, we can mention the agriculture field, our wine industry and there also could be potential for Azerbaijan because as we know Karabakh is an agricultural region. I think that by sharing our experience in the creation of new varieties of agricultural products, corn, wheat, grapes, resistant to climate change, we can strengthen our cooperation in the field of agriculture.
How would you rate the tourism cooperation between Azerbaijan and Moldova?
The tourism sector is a priority area for our government. We are aimed at developing agrotourism - a new sphere but for this point firstly we need to open direct flights between Moldova and Azerbaijan. Agrotourism is developing in Moldova, which is already gaining popularity in several European countries, providing an opportunity to get acquainted with the culture, especially the national culture and our fine wines.
How could you comment on cooperation in the humanitarian sphere?
It is very important for Moldova to develop this area and we have great potential for the development of this cooperation, education, humanitarian and cultural spheres, we need to determine the possibility of expanding the exchange of students between countries and I am quite optimistic to bring our students to Azerbaijan and vice versa to gaining experience for students and also for teaching staff in order to improve the quality of the professional activities.
Referring to the rich historical roots of Azerbaijan and the diversity of museums, cultural exchange is also an important aspect of cooperation between our countries.