While on a visit to San José, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian had a meeting with the President of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica, Victor Emilio Granados Calvo.
Greeting the Armenian Foreign Minister, the Chairman of Costa Rica’s Parliament attached importance to Edward Nalbandian’s visit, which, according to him, marks a new start in the bilateral relations and will undoubtedly boost bilateral cooperation.
Minister Nalbandian said, in turn, that his visit is aimed at establishing new ties with Latin American countries, and in this context Armenia emphasizes the importance of development of cooperation with Costa Rica in the political, economic and cultural spheres and the establishment of ties between the two parliaments could play an important role in this respect.
The interlocutors exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues. The Armenian Foreign Minister briefed the Parliament Speaker on the process of settlement of the Karabakh conflict, underlining that Armenia’s approaches go in line with the position of the international community, which has been expressed in the statements of the heads of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries. However, Azerbaijan continues to turn down all proposals, he added.
“The longer Azerbaijan tries to maintain the status quo, the more resolutions recognizing Nagorno Karabakh will be adopted, paving the way for the international recognition of Artsakh,” the Armenian Minister said, recalling that the Legislative Council of the largest Australian State of New South Wales adopted a decisions yesterday, recognizing the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh and the right to self-determination of its Armenian people.
The same day the Armenian Foreign Minister met with his Costa Rican counterpart Jose Enrique Barantas.
“Our countries have a number of similarities, a rich history and cultural heritage, and I’m confident that we’ll use this opportunity to reach agreements on the development of cooperation. Like Armenia, Costa Rica is willing to develop relations with different countries of the world, and here also our objectives overlap,” Minister Barantas said.
“Armenia is conducting an active and initiating foreign policy, one of the most important components of which is the increase of the number of friends, since we are confident that it is impossible to be guided by stereotypes and ignore the developments taking elsewhere,” the Minister said adding that “along with deepening the cooperation with traditional partners, Armenia is taking steps towards developing relations with Latin American, Asian and African states.”
The parties agreed to appoint non-resident Ambassadors to Yerevan and San José, appoint honorary consuls, hold political consultations between the Foreign Ministries of the two countries, deepening of cooperation within international organizations, work out framework agreements in the field of economy and develop documents on visa facilitation.
Wrapping up the visit to Latin American countries, Minister Nalbandian left for Paris, where he is scheduled to meet with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan.
