President Ilham Aliyev surprised his Slovak counterpart, Peter Pellegrini, with an unusual gesture of hospitality during the latter's visit to Azerbaijan by personally driving the vehicle during their trip.
According to the Operative Information Center-OMM, the Slovak leader shared details of the event on his social media account on X (formerly Twitter).
Pellegrini noted that this format for continuing the official program was highly unconventional, as heads of state acting as hosts typically do not drive the vehicles themselves during official visits.
"President Aliyev and I continued the next part of our program in a very unusual way. It is certainly rare for a host head of state to personally take the wheel during an official visit," the Slovak President wrote.
He emphasized that he was deeply touched by this warm and unexpected gesture from the Azerbaijani leader. According to Pellegrini, this action by President Ilham Aliyev served as a clear indicator of the strong relations between the two countries, the friendship between their peoples, and the mutual trust and respect that underpin their bilateral partnership.
"I sincerely thank President Aliyev for this memorable example of hospitality," the Slovak leader added.
Diplomatic visits of this nature often serve to strengthen bilateral ties between Azerbaijan and European nations. Such personal gestures between heads of state are frequently cited in diplomatic circles as a reflection of deepening political trust and the expansion of cooperation in energy, economic, and cultural spheres between Baku and its international partners.
