BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 13. Speaker of
Azerbaijani Parliament Sahiba Gafarova and Speaker of Slovakia’s
National Council Richard Raši have signed the memorandum of
understanding (MoU), a source in the parliament told Trend.
On May 13, a delegation led by Raši, who is on an official visit
to Azerbaijan, arrived at the parliament. The guests were welcomed
by Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Sahiba Gafarova.
The Speaker of the Slovak National Council first got acquainted
with the parliament’s plenary session hall. The guests who came to
the memorial hall named after the National Leader, Heydar Aliyev,
viewed the exhibits reflecting different periods of his life and
political activity.
Raši wrote his heartfelt words in the memorial book here.
Afterwards, the parties held an expanded meeting.
The parliament speaker, recalling her official visit to
Slovakia, positively assessed the meetings she held during that
visit. She noted that this was the first visit of the Speaker of
the National Council to Azerbaijan in this capacity, and that this
visit was an indicator of the continuous development of our
inter-parliamentary relations.
Gafarova noted with satisfaction that the guest visited the
liberated territories during his visit to Azerbaijan as an MP in
2022, and expressed her confidence that the constructive work
carried out there during this visit to those territories would make
a deep impression on the guests.
Noting the importance of high-level mutual visits for the
development of bilateral relations, the speaker emphasized the
relevant importance of mutual visits of the heads of state. The
speaker pointed out that in recent years, relations between
countries have risen to the level of strategic partnership, and in
this regard, the “Joint declaration on the establishment of
strategic partnership” signed between the two countries in May 2024
defines future areas of cooperation.
Speaking about the inter-parliamentary relations of the two
countries, Gafarova noted that mutual visits and parliamentary
friendship groups play a special role in this cooperation. The
interaction of parliaments, both bilaterally and within the
framework of international organizations, has a positive impact on
the development of relations between countries and cooperation for
the sake of sustainable development.
She informed the guest about the history, current structure and
activities of the Azerbaijani Parliament.
Expressing his satisfaction with the visit to the parliament,
Raši shared his impressions of his visit to Azerbaijan and his
meeting with President Ilham Aliyev today. He noted that President
Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Slovakia in December 2025 is of great
importance as the first official visit of the President of
Azerbaijan to Slovakia.
During the conversation, Raši underscored the importance of
interparliamentary relations, spoke about the importance of regular
visits and exchange of experience between members of parliament,
parliamentary committees, and working groups on interparliamentary
relations, and provided information about the structure of the
Slovak parliament.
The Speaker of the Slovak National Council also touched upon the
importance of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) to
be held in Baku next week, noting the importance of this event.
During the meeting, the guest shared his views on the prospects
for the development of relations between the two countries in the
economic, educational, cultural, defence industry, energy security
and other areas.
The conversation included an exchange of views on the activities
of the European Parliament that are inconsistent with parliamentary
diplomacy and constructive dialogue.
Other issues of mutual interest were also discussed at the
meeting.
Following the meeting, an MoU was signed between the Parliament
of Azerbaijan and the National Council of Slovakia.
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