Baku Does Not Regret Termination of Work of Embassy of Norway

Baku / 12.11.18 / Turan: The termination of the activities of the Norwegian Embassy in Baku is an ordinary case and is not regrettable. This opinion is expressed in the comments of the Acting Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev.

"Any country makes a decision on opening or closing an embassy abroad, based on its interests. The termination of the activities of the Embassy of Norway is a private affair of the government of this country. This is an ordinary case, and it does not cause us any feelings of regret," said Hajiyev.

Further, Hajiyev criticized the activities of the Norwegian Embassy in Azerbaijan and the former Ambassador of this country, Steinar Gil.

Steinar Gil, who served as Norway"s Ambassador to Azerbaijan in past years, acted contrary to the rules of the diplomatic protocol, violating the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, dealt a big blow to relations between Azerbaijan and Norway and tried to interfere in the internal affairs of Azerbaijan.

Instead of engaging in bilateral issues, he participated in various rallies and carried out other illegitimate actions, Hajiyev said. "This led to the fact that the Azerbaijani government began to discuss the issue of expelling Gil from the country. As a result, the Norwegian government withdrew him ahead of schedule," said Hajiyev.

Note that this comment by a representative of official Baku is significantly tougher than the first reaction of the authorities, which was much softer. Thus, the press secretary of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan, Leyla Abdullayeva, simply expressed regret at the decision of the Norwegian government to close the embassy in Baku. -02D-