The Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement Coordinating Bureau themed “NAM: United and steadfast in confronting emerging challenges” has been held at Baku Convention Center. Greeting the participants of the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement Coordinating Bureau, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov declared the event open. First, the memory of the leaders of the member countries of the Non-Aligned Movement who lost their lives from 2019 until today was honored with observing a minute of silence. Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said that this meeting of ministers as part of preparation for the Kampala Summit will provide an opportunity to review the achievements made after the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Baku in 2019. Then, FM Jeyhun Bayramov gave the floor to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement Ilham Aliyev. The head of state addressed the meeting. President Ilham Aliyev said in his speech that the NAM Azerbaijani chairmanship vigorously protected justice and international law and the legitimate interests of Member States in line with the “Bandung principles”. “When the international community was confused over how to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, it was NAM that consolidated global efforts in countering this unprecedented challenge,” he said. The NAM Online Summit initiated by Azerbaijan at the leaders’ level in May 2020 led to the UN General Assembly Special Session in December 2020. Furthermore, NAM’s strong opposition to “vaccine nationalism” pursued by some wealthy countries, subsequent UN resolutions for equitable and universal access to vaccines for all countries testifies to NAM’s leadership in combatting coronavirus. Ilham Aliyev said the institutional development of the Movement, namely, the establishment of the NAM Parliamentary Network and NAM Youth Organization in 2021 and 2022 respectively is another achievement of the Azerbaijani chairmanship. Currently we are also working on the establishment of the NAM women platform. With these steps towards the institutional sustainability, we will definitely leave a successful legacy to incoming chairs. “As a responsible and active member of international community we also had to think about post-pandemic period. Thus, Azerbaijan successfully organized another NAM summit this March on post-pandemic recovery in Baku, where we discussed issues of global importance and shared views about better post-pandemic recovery,” he said. Supporting countries in need was another priority for Azerbaijani chairmanship. Azerbaijan provided COVID-19-related financial and humanitarian assistance to more than 80 countries, most of those from NAM either bilaterally or through World Health Organization. Azerbaijan made voluntary contributions to the World Health Organization in the amount of 10 million USD. We also provided vaccines to 5 countries. “As a true defender of multilateralism and the second largest international institution after the United Nations, NAM has to find its own place in the newly reshaping world order. We need to stand firm around Bandung principles, make our voice louder against cases of violation of sovereignty and territorial integrity and intervention in the internal affairs of states. Our movement’s more visible presence in the world affairs is vital,” he said. “Multilateralism is our powerful instrument. Currently, international organizations, in particular, UN does not meet up to the expectations of the mankind. Inevitably UN needs to go through serious reforms. UN Security Council is reminiscent of the past and does not reflect the current reality. We advocate for the expansion of the composition of the Security Council to make it more representative and more geographically fair. I am glad that today there is a growing consensus on this idea worldwide,” he said. Azerbaijan is very much concerned by the rising tendency towards neo-colonialism. NAM, which was created as a result of decolonization process, should vigorously combat this shameful legacy of the past and contribute to its full elimination. “One of the countries that still is pursuing the neo-colonialism is France. French administered territories outside Europe are nasty remains of the French colonial empire. France must respect the sovereignty of the Comoros over the island of Mayotte as well as the rights of the New Caledonian people and other peoples in French overseas communities and territories. I welcome the distinguished representatives from French overseas communities and territories who will hold their side-event in the margins of Baku Ministerial to make their just cause and aspirations for freedom to be heard by the international community,” he said. Ilham Aliyev said nearly 1.5 million Algerians were killed during genocidal French rule. Sculls of Algerian freedom fighters still are kept in Paris museum as war trophies. This is cynical and disgusting. We demand President Emmanuel Macron of France to hand over to Algeria the remains of its heroes. France, which is falsely presenting herself as a defender of human rights and international law, still interferes into domestic affairs of other countries. The recent withdrawal of French troops from Mali and Burkina Faso once again demonstrated that outrageous neo-colonialism policy of France in Africa is doomed to failure. Unfortunately, France is trying to impose the same ill practice in the region of Southern Caucasus by supporting armenian separatism in Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and by means of geopolitical rivalry, foreign military presence and colonial policy of “Orientalism”. France has conducted several nuclear weapons tests in Algeria and in its overseas territories – French Polynesia in the Pacific throughout the second half of the twentieth century, thus caused global environmental degradation and serious health problems for local communities. “Climate change, water scarcity, food insecurity, forced migration requires our constant attention. Small Island Developing States are more vulnerable to climate change’s impact and face an existential threat. Horrific pictures of migrant boat disasters in the Mediterranean Sea are deeply alarming,” he added. Ilham Aliyev said promotion of intercultural and interreligious dialogue should be high on our agenda. We are concerned by rising Islamophobia and xenophobia as well as attempts to equate Islam with violence and terror. Burning and desecration of the Holy Quran in Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden and justifying it under the guise of the freedom of expression is totally irresponsible and inadmissible and must be condemned.