Romanian president wants to expand ties with Azerbaijan

Trend news agency, Baku
14 Jul 06

I am satisfied with the high level of political relations with
Azerbaijan, which was once again proved by Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev’s recent visit to Romania, Romanian President Traian Basescu
said in an exclusive interview with the Azerbaijani news agency Trend
on 14 July.

He said that Romania welcomes the beginning of negotiations between
the European Union and Azerbaijan on the Individual Action Plan, as
well as Azerbaijan’s participation in NATO’s Individual Partnership
Action Plan (IPAP).

"We recognize that economic relations between the two countries do not
correspond to the level of the two countries’ possibilities, and we
consider that the second session of the intergovernmental commission
on technical and scientific cooperation, which was held in Baku in
June, showed the importance of development in this sphere. During
my forthcoming visit to Azerbaijan this autumn, we will discuss the
end results of these efforts, and then we will see which of them
are practicable and deserve our further involvement," Trend quoted
Basescu as saying.

The Romanian president also said that the Black Sea region is a
priority in Romania’s regional policy. He believes that this region
has considerable unused potential. The president stressed that the
security of this region is directly connected with the security of
the European and Euro-Atlantic area, especially taking into account
security and energy risks, he told Trend.

Basescu expressed his confidence that the Black Sea region is more
important to Romania and Azerbaijan, because it provides entrance to
the European and Euro-Atlantic area.

Speaking about the activities of GUAM [a regional alliance of Georgia,
Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova], the Romanian president said that he
welcomes the interest of GUAM countries in solving frozen conflicts
which are sources of instability in the region and threats on borders,
Trend reported. He also said that it is necessary to consider Romania’s
accession to GUAM as well.

The Romanian president also spoke about Azerbaijan’s role in the issue
of providing the energy security of Europe, including Romania. "The
energy security of Europe is a particularly important issue in the
context of the growing demand for new energy resources, and Romania,
as an oil and gas importing country, is interested in new sources
of imports and alternative transport routes," he said. He stressed
that Romania is interested in developing energy cooperation with
Azerbaijan. Romania is analyzing the possibility of signing a bilateral
agreement with Azerbaijan, the president added.

Speaking about the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict,
the Romanian president said that Romania supports Azerbaijan’s
independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. He said that
there is no single and universal solution to frozen conflicts. The
conflicts in the Dniester region, Abkhazia and Nagornyy Karabakh
are different. Therefore, their solution also should be different,
Trend quoted Basescu as saying. "We consider that 2006 opens a
unique opportunity for solving the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, and
in this regard, I welcome the positive results of the meeting held
in Bucharest," Basescu said while commenting on the recent meeting
between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in Bucharest.

He added that Romania supports the peaceful settlement of the conflict,
Trend quoted him as saying.