Establishment of relations with the European countries and development of these relations assume great importance in the foreign policy of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan always draws attention of European countries because of its political-economic and strategic position.

Azerbaijan gives a special attention to the development of relations with Germany, one of the strongest countries of Europe, from economic and political points of view. Azerbaijan opened its first embassy in this country taking into consideration the historical traditions and closeness with this country. Azerbaijan is important for Germany because of three issues. They are: integration of Azerbaijan to the West, protection of stability in the Southern Caucuses, and the important role of Azerbaijan in the architecture of energy security.

On the 1^st of July, President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev met the members of administrative delegation and presidium of the German-Azerbaijani Forum. Heydar Aliyev gave information about reforms conducted by the newly independent Azerbaijan, and emphasized importance of the relations with Germany. «The Azerbaijani people highly appreciate the work done by Germany and its people for the mankind and its achievements with respect. The German people have great achievements, and as a developed country, it has a great experience. Independent Azerbaijan does its best to be close to this country and to strengthen their relations day by day.»

On the 2^nd of July,the Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev met President of Germany Roman Herzog and federal-chancellor Helmut Koll. They analyzed the current situation of the German-Azerbaijani relations, held discussions for the further development of cooperation in future.

On that day an official reception was held on the behalf of President Roman Herzog in honor of Heydar Aliyev. Heydar Aliyev in his speech in the reception touched upon the history of the German-Azerbaijani relations and stated that the experience of Germany after its unification was very beneficial for our country.

During the visit a joint declaration on the principles of the relations between Azerbaijan and Federal Republic of Germany, as well as, a number of agreements covering economic spheres were signed.

On the 2^nd of July Heydar Aliyev met the chairman of the German-Caucasian parliamentary group of Bundestag Willi Wimmer and other members of that group. He thanked them for the kind attitude to him and appreciated their objective, strong, and kind position.

On the 3^rd of July the Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev made a speech in the press conference devoted to his official visit to Germany. In his speech he touched upon the German-Azerbaijani relations, Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, answered to the questions, which the international community were interested in.

On the 3^rd of July President Heydar Aliyev met the governing bodies of «Dutch Bank» in Dusseldorf, and made a speech in the official reception held in his honor. As a result of the meeting very important agreements were signed between the National Bank of Azerbaijan and the International Bank of Azerbaijan. The governing body of «Dutch Bank» presented books to Heydar Aliyev published for the promotion of the Azerbaijani economy.

On the same day o Heydar Aliyev held important meetings in the framework of his visit to Germany in Koln with the businessmen of Germany. In the meeting Heydar Aliyev stated: «I think that there should be more German companies in Azerbaijan. There are favorable conditions and opportunities for them. The main condition is that Azerbaijan is an open country; it has democratic principles in economy. This condition and the rule of law, the legal basis, which still is also in process, give an opportunity to the foreign companies to take an active part in the cooperation with Azerbaijan. I assure you as President that I shall take all the measures to create all conditions for each foreign company to operate in Azerbaijan efficiently.»

On 4^th of July President Heydar Aliyev made a speech at the reception in the honor of him organized by the administrative personnel of the company of «Mercedes-Benz» in Baden-Wurtemberg on the last day of his official visit. The President mentioned that he was interested in broadening the relations between the automobile company and Azerbaijan.

The official visit paid by the President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev to the Federal Republic of Germany was an important step in the formation of relations on a new plane with this influential country of Europe.