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EU ambassador announced why signing of Partnership Agreement with Azerbaijan delayed

09 June 2021 15:56 (UTC +04:00)

The European Union (EU) ambassador spoke about the work on the Partnership Agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan, APA reports.
The head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan said that several remaining open issues still under discussions are mainly related to trade.
"Azerbaijani and the EU officials say that the new agreement is almost ready. But" almost" is not enough, it has to be finalized. There are number of reasons for this: there was a war last year, also the COVID-19 pandemic has affected us all". The diplomat said that current Partnership and Cooperation agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan still works and provides basis for bilateral relations, but relations are diversifying and the legal basis needs to be updated taking into account the latest developments and new priorities.

"The partnership agreement will be the basis for our bilateral relations, including trade. This part is the most difficult in negotiations because Azerbaijan is not yet a member of the World Trade Organization.

Regarding the visa facilitation, the ambassador said that the process of visa facilitation has brought many benefits for Azerbaijani citizens, obtaining visas has become easier and cheaper. The ambassador added that the abolition of visas for citizens of EU countries to come to Azerbaijan would increase the number of European tourists.