YEREVAN, 15 MAY, NOYAN TAPAN: Armenian and Romanian Foreign Ministries held political consultations at Armenia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on May 14. The Armenian delegation was headed by Head of the Department of Europe at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Armen Liloyan and the Romanian delegation was headed by General Director for Regional Cooperation of Romania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Irina Zidaru. A broad range of issues related to bilateral relations was discussed during the consultations. The parties expressed content with the level of political dialogue, mentioning the need for adding new content to the bilateral relations. The representatives of the Armenian and Romanian foreign ministries touched upon the upcoming actions to be taken by the Armenian-Romanian mixed inter-governmental committee on trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation. An initial agreement was reached to organize cultural events in Armenia and Romania in 2010-2011, hold joint business seminars and prepare the signing of a number of bilateral agreements. The parties also discussed the EU Eastern Partnership and prospects for cooperation within the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and other international organizations and exchanged views on regional issues. According to a press release by the department of press and information of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs, within the framework of the political consultations the Romanian delegation was received by RA Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Karine Ghazinyan. Issues related to Armenian-Romanian relations and relations between Armenia and the European Union, the latest developments of the process of the Karabakh conflict settlement and the establishment of Turkish-Armenian relations, were discussed during the meeting. The next stage of political consultations between both foreign ministries is scheduled to be held in Bucharest.

---