YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, NOYAN TAPAN. On February 14 Ambassador Raul de Luzenberger, the Head of the delegation of the European Commission in the Republic of Armenia, conveyed the copy of his credentials to Armen Bayburdian, the Deputy Minister of the Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia. During the meeting the sides discussed a number of issues, in particular, the current level and perspectives of the implementation process of the RA-EU New Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan. They also touched upon the forthcoming presidential elections of Armenia. Raul de Luzenberger mentioned that the European Union is interested in the continuation of a stable cooperation with Armenia, about which the opening of the EU delegation in Armenia speaks. He expressed hope that the country will continue to develop in the direction of the general democratic values. Reference: Raul de Luzenberger was born in 1958 in Italy. In 1981 he graduated from the Economics Faculty of the University of Neapole, in 1985 the Economics Faculty of the University of Varvik, in 1987 the Political Economics Faculty of the University of La Sapienza of Rome. In 1982-2001 he held a number of offices in state bodies and private companies. In 1998-2003 he was the Head of the branch office of TACIS in Minsk. In 2003-2007 he worked in the Main Department of Foreign Relations of the European Commission as a responsible for Moldova. Since 2007 he has been the confidential person of the EU delegation in the Republic of Armenia. He masters the Italian, English, Russian, and French languages. According to the information provided to Noyan Tapan by the Press and Information Department of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Charles Lonsdale, the newly-appointed Ambassador of Great Britain, as well conveyed the copy of his credentials to A. Bayburdian on the same day. Wishing the Ambassador success in the implementation of his high mission, A. Bayburdian mentioned that Armenia attaches importance to the development process of the Armenian-British relations and intends to still more strengthen and deepen the bilateral relations with Great Britain. Reference: Charles Lonsdale was born in Oxford in 1965. In 1987-2003 he held a number of offices in the Foreign Service system of the United Kingdom, including the representations of the United Kingdom abroad. In 2003-2005 he was the Deputy Head of the Group for Afghanistan in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 2005-2007 the Deputy Head of the Group of Human Rights, Democracy and Government. He is not married. He masters the English, Russian, French and Hungarian languages.

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