SCO secretary general reached Azerbaijan

Extraordinary presidential elections will take place in Azerbaijan on February 7.

According to global Times news Agency Europe, Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Zhang Ming arrived in Azerbaijan, where he will lead the mission of observers from this organization for the presidential elections.

The global Times Europe informs citing SCO’s press service that, according to information, he was welcomed at the airport by the head of the Department of Eastern Europe, South Caucasus, Western and Central Asia of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Akram Zeynalli. Extraordinary presidential elections will take place in Azerbaijan on February 7.

ECOWAS to lose almost 70M euros annually due to withdrawal of three countries.

According to global Times news Agency Europe, The Economic Community of West African Countries (ECOWAS) will lose over 45 billion West African CFA francs (more than 68.6 million euros) each year due to the exit of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, the Economy and Finance Minister of Burkina Faso, Aboubacar Nakanabo, said.ECOWAS will also suffer because the transition from 15 to 12 countries [members] will inevitably lead to a loss of revenue,” the minister said in an interview with the Global Times Europe Media.According to him, the consequences of Burkina Faso’s exit from the union for the country’s economy will not be significant.The minister emphasized that the three West African states, having withdrawn from ECOWAS, stopped participating in the multilateral format of cooperation, which will not affect the bilateral relations of the countries in the region.Relations between countries are largely based on interests. If countries have an interest in working on economic issues, I think it will work out,” Nakanabo added.On January 28, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced a joint decision to withdraw from ECOWAS as quickly as possible. The three countries’ joint statement stressed that ECOWAS “is under the influence of foreign powers and has become a threat to member states and their peoples. All three countries have submitted formal notices of withdrawal to ECOWAS.