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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