YEREVAN, OCTOBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. Issues of the Armenian-Romanian cooperation were discussed at the October 5 meeting of the Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margarian and the Romanian President Tryan Basesku who is on an official visit to Armenia. According to the RA Government Information and PR Department, expressing a high opinion about the Armenian-Romanian relations, including the current state of the economic cooperation, the Armenian prime minister stated Armenia's willingness to strengthen and develop these relations, with special emphasis being laid on mutual visits at various levels. He expressed a hope that the Romanian president's visit will become a new incentive for the promotion of cooperation and extension of economic links. Noting that the relations between the two countries have always been friendly, Tryan Basesku and Andranik Margarian underlined that the Romanian Armenian community greatly contributed to the development of links between Armenia and Romania. A. Margarian expressed his gratitude to the Romanian people for providing shelter to our compatriots who survived the genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 and creating favorable conditions for them to live and work. Welcoming Romania's efforts to join the EU, the prime minister expressed a hope that 2007 will be a historical year for the Romanian people, noting with confidence that the country's membership of the UE will have an additional positive influence on the bilateral relations. According to A. Margarian, it is envisaged to sign the EU-Armenian Action Plan in the near future. He noted that Armenia is ready to consider the opportunities of cooperation with Romania within the framework of implementation of this action plan. In terms of promoting the Armenian-Romanian relations regarding Eurointegration, the head of the Armenian government also attached importance to the signing of the memorandum on cooperation between the MFA of Armenia and the MFA of Romania in European integration and Euroatlantic structures. Addressing the issue of cooperation between NATO and Armenia, A. Margarian said that our country intends to make full use of the opportunities provided by Armenia's Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP), which was approved by NATO in December 2005, and is ready to consider Romania's assistance and participation in the implementation of the Armenia IPAP. As regards the economic cooperation, President Tryan Basesku and Prime Minister Andranik Margarian noted with satisfaction the existence of a favorable legal field for efficient cooperation between Armenia and Romania, with a number of bilateral agreements being signed. In terms of promoting the economic relations between the two countries, they pointed out the importance of activities of the Armenian-Romanian intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation, anticipating that the most important issues and development priorities of the bilateral economic cooperation will be clearly outlined as a result of the second meeting of the commission held during the visit of the Romanian president to Yerevan. The prime minister underlined that the high level of relations between the Armenian and Romanian presidents obliges the two governments to carry out an adequate cooperation. President Bryan Basesku also considered the current legal and contractual base as satisfactory for economic cooperation, noting the existence of a political will along with it in order to foster economic cooperation and stressing the necessity for bilateral assistance to businessmen, which, according to him, is a key for success. President Basesku assured that Romania as a friendly country will support Armenia in any situation, providing all possible assistance for Armenia to establish closer relations with the European Union. In this connection, he mentioned Romania's support to Armenia when our country joined the European Neighborhood Policy. In his words, no country should become a EU member while having an ethnic problem. He reminded about the problems that arose between the Romanians and Hungarians years ago, as a result of which Romania was isolated for about two years. "Europe should not tolerate such diversities, because it is a multinational organization," the Romanain president stated. During the meeting, the Armenian prime minister presented in detail the steps taken by our country for Eurointegration since Armenia became independent. The Romanian president and the Armenian prime minister also addressed some regional problems, the current state and prospects of Armenia's relations with Turkey, as well as the latest development related to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement. In this connection President Basesku assured that Romania will continue taking a neutral position on the issue of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

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