Press release of the Embassy of Azerbaijan to Latvia on the roundtable discussion titled “Mine Action in Azerbaijan: Priorities and Challenges” and working visit of the delegation of Azerbaijan to Latvia

On 16 June 2025, the Embassy of Azerbaijan to Latvia, in cooperation with the Northern European Policy Center (NEPC) and the Mine Action Agency of Azerbaijan (ANAMA), held a roundtable discussion titled “Mine Action in Azerbaijan: Priorities and Challenges” in Riga.

Opening remarks were delivered by Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Latvia Elnur Sultanov, the former President of Latvia Raimonds Vējonis and NEPC Chair, the former Minister of Defence of Latvia Artis Pabriks. Key speakers included Gaya Mammadov, Member of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) of Azerbaijan and Samir Poladov, Deputy Chair of ANAMA.

The event focused on raising awareness about Azerbaijan’s landmine threat, humanitarian demining challenges and promoting international cooperation. Azerbaijan faces an enormous challenge due to landmine and explosive remnants of war contamination as a result of nearly three decades of military occupation by Armenia. This problem affects more than 13% of the country’s territory. Since November 2020, 398 people have become victims of landmines and ERWs (70 killed, 328 wounded). The total number of mine victims in Azerbaijan since 1991 has reached 3476 persons. There is a pressing need for an adequate level of practical support from the international community and enhanced partnership through technical, material and financial means, as well as innovative solutions for Azerbaijan’s humanitarian demining efforts.

Within the working visit to Latvia, on 16-17 June the delegation of Azerbaijan also held meetings at the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia.

They met with Ināra Mūrniece, Chair of Foreign Affairs Committee, Ingrīda Circene, Head of the Latvian delegation to OSCE PA and Olegs Burovs, Chair of Latvia-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Group, along with other members of the Group.

The discussions focused on strengthening relations between Azerbaijan and Latvia across various fields, including inter-parliamentary cooperation within bilateral and multilateral framework. The Azerbaijani representatives highlighted key aspects of humanitarian demining in Azerbaijan and emphasized the need for stronger international support to address this pressing challenge.

During the meetings, the Azerbaijani side provided detailed information on the current situation in the region in the post-conflict period, the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization process and the factors hindering this process, as well as the large-scale reconstruction work carried out in the liberated territories.