In the first visit to Azerbaijan by an Italian premier in 13 years, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni said on Monday that the two countries needed to hold tight to reliable partnerships as instability spread across the Middle East.
“The more instability grows around us, the more important it is to strengthen the certainties we have — and the relationship between Italy and Azerbaijan is certainly one of those certainties,” Meloni said at a joint press conference with President Ilham Aliyev in Baku.
The visit comes as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has pushed Rome to secure alternative energy supplies and deepen ties with reliable partners outside the Middle East. Italy is the top EU importer of energy from Azerbaijan.
The two leaders spent much of their meeting on energy. Aliyev said Azerbaijan exported 25 billion cubic metres of natural gas last year, of which 7.5 billion went to Italy, and that both sides discussed increasing that volume.
“For us, the Italian market is of primary importance for both oil and gas,” Aliyev said.
Expanding capacity would require enlarging the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, the final leg of the Southern Gas Corridor that carries Azerbaijani gas across Turkey, Greece and Albania into southern Italy.
Aliyev said work on expanding TAP, which is an “integral part” of the network, was already under way but needed to continue.
Meloni said Azerbaijan’s gas and oil supplies had been “decisive for the energy security” of Italy since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
She said she wanted Azerbaijan to strengthen its role as a hub between Europe and Asia, with Italy serving as “the privileged gateway to the European market.”
“Many Italian companies are extremely interested in participating in development plans and in 360-degree modernisation efforts, not only bilaterally but also in third countries,” Meloni stated.
TAP has delivered 47.5 billion cubic metres of gas to Italy since commercial operations began, covering around 16% of Italy’s total gas demand in 2025 and roughly a quarter of its pipeline imports excluding liquefied natural gas, according to TAP managing director Luca Schieppati.
Annual deliveries have been stable in recent years: 9.69 bcm in 2022, 9.37 bcm in 2023, 9.76 bcm in 2024 and 9.46 bcm in 2025. The pipeline has maintained 100% system availability since operations began. Recent upgrades to a compressor station in Greece added 1.2 bcm of annual capacity.
Bilateral trade reached €10.2 billion last year, making Italy Azerbaijan’s largest commercial partner. Azerbaijan has invested €2.5 billion in Italy to date.
Around 30 Italian companies are operating in Azerbaijan, with 23 Italian projects under way in Karabakh. Both sides confirmed plans for a Business Forum in Baku in the second half of 2026 to develop further Italian investment.
Meloni said Italy backs the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalisation process and called 2026 “a potentially crucial year” for unlocking the region’s potential.
Meanwhile, Italy has temporarily relocated its embassy in Iran from Tehran to Baku, Meloni confirmed, adding that Azerbaijan had provided full support for the evacuation of Italian citizens from Iran after the war broke out in February.
“I want to thank Azerbaijan and the president for how they ensured Italy could carry out the operations necessary to bring to safety so many Italian citizens who found themselves in danger in Iran,” she said.
The Italian prime minister’s visit comes after European Council President Antonio Costa’s trip to Baku, during which the top EU official said a new framework of cooperation with the 27-member bloc “sends a strong signal of our joint vision for the future,” underlining that energy security is a cornerstone of the EU’s cooperation with Azerbaijan.