Azerbaijan welcomes the fact that the principles of differentiation, flexibility, focus and greater ownership feature the new European Neighborhood Policy document as a step to adapt EU policy vis-à-vis its Eastern dimension to current realities and the needs of partner countries, said Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

He made the remarks addressing the meeting of Foreign Ministers of Eastern Partnership countries in Brussels May 23.

Mammadyarov noted that Azerbaijan has always demonstrated a strong political will to develop the relationship with the EU based on principles of equal partnership and mutually benefit.

He recalled that a year ago Azerbaijan introduced the draft Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) to the EU side on the margins of the Riga Summit.

“This agreement will lay the solid foundation for upgrading our bilateral relationship to qualitatively new level and for better securing our common interests,” he said.

The visit of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini to Azerbaijan was a good opportunity for reviewing and discussing the future direction of the EU-Azerbaijan relationship, according to Mammadyarov.

“We attach great importance to enhancing our bilateral cooperation in many areas of shared interest and, having recently finalized joint consultations on the scope of Strategic Partnership Agreement, we understand that the EU will come up with an official mandate to launch negotiations soon,” the FM noted.

“Currently, we are working on the resumption of existing political dialogue mechanism aimed at re-energizing our bilateral cooperation. Furthermore, we are also ready to resume negotiations on Common Aviation Agreement with the EU,” he concluded.