On December 17, Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, arrived in Bucharest for a working visit at the invitation of Klaus Iohannis, the President of Romania, the Press Office of the Azerbaijani President reported.

Plenary meeting on the signing of the Agreement on Strategic Partnership on Green Energy

On the same day, a plenary meeting on the signing ceremony of the "Agreement on a Strategic Partnership in the Field of Green Energy Development and Transmission between the Governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, and Hungary" was held in Bucharest. The meeting was attended by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.

President of Romania Klaus Iohannis welcomed President Ilham Aliyev, Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili, Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

Opening the plenary meeting, the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, welcomed the guests and made a speech. Stressing the importance of the quadrilateral agreement, the Romanian President said: "Today's agreement sets up a framework for long-term cooperation between our countries in several critical areas. We need to cooperate better and show more solidarity to mitigate common challenges. As the next step, our ambition is to have the digital cable laid alongside the submarine electricity power line. We envisage the expansion of the maritime transportation links towards Georgia from our harbor in Constanța. These endeavors will enhance connectivity with Azerbaijan and further into Central Asia. A lot of work lies ahead of us to tap the potential and increase our resilience."

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen noted that this agreement would bring the European Union closer to our partners in the south Caucasus region and help our regions achieve the clean energy transition.

Ilham Aliyev stated: "This July, during the visit of Madame von der Leyen to Azerbaijan, we signed the memorandum of understanding on strategic partnership in the field of energy between Azerbaijan and the EU, and we have already started to implement this document." Azerbaijan exported 8.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas to the European Union last year and 11.3 billion cubic meters this year. Next year, it will be at least 11.6. Next year, the total natural gas export from Azerbaijan will be almost 24 billion cubic meters. In comparison, in the year 2021, it was 19."

"Today, we start to build another energy bridge from Azerbaijan to Europe. Our country plans to become an important supplier of electric energy to Europe, mainly green energy. Azerbaijan's renewable energy potential is more than 27 gigawatts of wind and solar power onshore and 157 gigawatts of wind power in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. Together with one of our country's strategic investors, we plan to implement 3 gigawatts of wind and 1 gigawatt of solar power by 2027, 80 percent of which will be exported. "By 2037, we plan to create an additional capacity of at least 6 gigawatts," he added.

The Hungarian Prime Minister emphasized: "Thanks to the wisdom of the European Commission, we have paid a lot of attention to Azerbaijan and developed our cooperation with this country. It is commendable that Azerbaijan and President Ilham Aliyev are always open to cooperation with the European Union. For one year now, I have personally witnessed that the European Union can always rely on Azerbaijan as a reliable partner. We are grateful to our friends in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Romania, as well as to the President of the European Commission, for the opportunity to sign this agreement in the field of energy on behalf of Hungary today."

Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, and Hungary signed an agreement on the development and transmission of green energy

On December 17, an "Agreement on strategic partnership in the field of development and transmission of green energy between the governments of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary" was signed in Bucharest.

According to the official website of the President of Romania, the agreement envisages the strengthening of national and regional energy security and relations in the Black Sea basin, the diversification of supply sources, the use of renewable energy production potential in the Caspian region, and meets the interests of the four states.