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Minister of Foreign Affairs Luminita Odobescu said on Monday, in a a joint statement with her visiting Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov, that Romania "firmly" supports the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
"I reiterated Romania's firm support for the full normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Our position is clear and consistent: the sustainable, negotiated settlement of all problems, with the observance of the principles of international law," Odobescu said.
The foreign minister reiterated Romania's support for the mediation efforts made by the President of the European Council.
"For Romania, it is extremely important that security, stability and peace are ensured in the South Caucasus, a region that is in our vicinity, on the other side of the Black Sea. These are the basic premises for ensuring overall prosperity and overall development, for capitalizing on the huge potential of the region, from all points of view. We believe that the European Union can play a more important and substantial role in these directions, because it has the political will, the tools and the necessary capacities," Luminita Odobescu underscored.
She also mentioned that Azerbaijan is Romania's main economic partner in the South Caucasus.
"We discussed today about speeding up our countries' efforts for the fastest possible operationalization of the Black Sea - Caspian Sea international transport route. This initiative, which we are developing together with Georgia and Turkmenistan, will make it possible to attract new flows of goods from the regions of the South Caucasus, Central Asia and Asia-Pacific, transforming our ports from the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea into important transit centers on the East-West axis," the Romanian official said.
"We would like to invite Romanian companies and investors to participate in joint investment projects in Azerbaijan, in particular reconstruction and restoration works in the recently liberated Karabakh and Zangezur regions," Jeyhun Bayramov said in his speech.
He argued that "with the end of the occupation of the Azerbaijani territories", this adds a new perspective to the relations between Azerbaijan and Romania.
"Normalization based on mutual recognition and respect of each others' sovereignty and inviolability of territorial borders will not only serve Azerbaijan and Armenia, but will also provide an opportunity to reopen their unused potential for cooperation and progress in the region and beyond," Bayramov said, according to the official translation.
The Azerbaijani official specified that his country promotes a peace agenda "based on mutual respect, for those with shared interests".
