BAKU: The United States has fully supported Azerbaijan’s independence, stability, and prosperity since its independence from the Soviet Union, US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Earle Litzenberger said, media eports with reference to the embassy. Litzenberger made the statement at the 2020 Naval Postgraduate School Regional Energy Security Symposium. “Thank you for the invitation to speak to this year’s Regional Energy Security Symposium. We are now in the third year of this valuable event. I was pleased to address this forum last year and reinforce our commitments to Azerbaijan’s sovereignty, independence and contributions to European energy security,” Litzenberger said. He then once again thanked the Naval Postgraduate School, ADA University, SOCAR, and BP for their successful continued collaboration on these issues. “This has been a difficult year full of challenges unprecedented in their scope and scale. Nonetheless, the theme of this symposium, the intersection of energy and security, remains an important and relevant topic. During my tenure as Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Mission to NATO and as Senior Official in our Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, I saw firsthand the value of the work done by NATO via the Energy Security Center of Excellence and by our military post-graduate educational institutions in bringing energy security issues to the fore,” he said. Litzenberger noted that US’ message has been clear and consistent: Azerbaijan’s role in supporting and contributing to European and global energy security and stability represents a sustained positive commitment and contribution the US deeply values. “I want to emphasize a point: the United States has fully supported Azerbaijan’s independence, stability, and prosperity since its independence from the Soviet Union. Throughout Azerbaijan’s history our bilateral relationship has rested on three common pillars: security cooperation, economic and energy cooperation, and support for human rights and the rule of law,” he said. Security cooperation, as one of these three pillars, includes this week’s event. The United States and Azerbaijan also have robust ongoing cooperative security initiatives underway throughout the country to strengthen border security, protect critical energy infrastructure on the Caspian Sea, enhance cyber security, and counter transnational terrorism, he said.
