Said Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi before his meeting with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev.
The visit of the President Ilham Aliev to Italy is going on. Several meetings of the president have been intended today. Mutual relations, energy projects, regional and the other issues will be discussed at the meetings.
In his interview to Trend News, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told about mutual political and economical cooperation with Azerbaijan. He hoped that after the statement signed by the presidents of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia in Moscow Mountainous Karabakh problem would be solved. According to him Azerbaijan plays a vital role in the Caucus and makes efficient decisions. “We appreciate Azeri contributions to NATO stabilization operations and the balanced approach shown during the crisis in Georgia”. Prime Minister spoke about the perspectives of political and economic cooperation and energy projects. According to Silvio Berluskoni Italy is Azerbaijan's first trade partner and in these 2 years trade between the two countries exceeded the record value of ?3 billion. “It is not a coincidence that after being elected for the second term Ilham Aliev made his first official visit to Italy”. Silvio Berluskoni stated that since Turkey-Greece-Italy had started to its activity in 2006, official Rome was seeking to import gas from Azerbaijan and from the Caspian region, through Turkey and Greece. “The project, on which the Italian company Edison has been working for quite some time, enjoys general political support and can be implemented appropriate time. We are confident that President Aliev will be able to contribute to an agreement that will settle all outstanding issues between interested countries”.