After a month full of visits, the leaders of four of Europe's strategically essential countries realized that the strategic importance of Azerbaijan's geographical and energy position has reached new heights amidst war in Ukraine on the one hand and Middle Eastern upheavals on the other hand. As we described it, Baku became the capital of the 'Old Continent's new pragmatism. Meloni's visit, on the other hand, was anticipated very closely.

Perhaps thirteen years is a long time to leave a strategic partner without a prime ministerial visit. As Giorgia Meloni herself pointed out during her meeting with President Aliyev in Baku on Tuesday afternoon, "I believe we had to fill this long-standing gap." The gap existed in theory only, of course, since various aspects of bilateral cooperation between the two countries have been developed in different areas, Italian companies continued working in the country, energy flows increased, a sovereign wealth fund invested its money, and a university was built. The gap in prime ministers' visits, however, lasted for 13 years. This situation became particularly noticeable considering the current state of affairs, with bilateral trade amounting to 12 billion dollars annually and 16 percent of Italian gas coming from Azerbaijan.

In fact, Tuesday's visit was meant to rectify just that. Yerevan-Baku, the multilateral European format on one day, followed by bilateral talks between Italy and Azerbaijan on the next, encapsulated the two-track approach to Italian Caucasus policy in back-to-back diary entries. Two separate trips, with two separate motives behind each one. And the fact that she completed both in 24 hours was, as President Ilham Aliyev noted at their joint press conference, "a clear manifestation of the respect and goodwill shown toward Azerbaijan."

In 2025, Italy and Azerbaijan's bilateral trade was valued at $12 billion, with Italy positioned as Azerbaijan's number one trading partner. That year, Azerbaijan exported 9.5 bcm of gas to Italy, which covered approximately 16% of Italy's total gas demand. Additionally, there are currently 130 Italian companies operating in Azerbaijan, with 23 projects located in the liberated territories. Over the past few years, the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) has invested $3 billion in the Italian........

© AzerNews