Azernews.Az

BAKU – Romania and Azerbaijan signed four cooperation deals at the end of Romanian President Traian Basescu’s talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Baku on Monday, including an agreement on strategic partnership.

In addition to the Action Plan on strategic partnership, signed by the two leaders, the documents included cooperation agreements inked by the ministries of foreign affairs, agriculture and health.

Following the signing, the Romanian and Azerbaijani presidents handed each other the two countries’ high state awards. President Basescu received the Heydar Aliyev Order, named after Azerbaijan’s late national leader and former president, while President Aliyev was awarded with the Grand Cross Order of the Crown of Romania.

Aliyev said relations between Azerbaijan and Romania are strategic and multi-faceted.

"Our cooperation is very successful in all areas…We have achieved great results in the political as well as economic and humanitarian aid fields, in each facet, and I am confident that your visit will make a tangible contribution to the development of these relations," the Azerbaijani president was quoted by his website as saying.

President Basescu in turn said Romania and Azerbaijan’s multilateral relations stem from resolving the issues negotiated by the parties during past visits.

"We are therefore looking forward to our future meetings, because during the meeting with you today, we discussed crucial topics," Basescu said, but he did not give details.

Basescu said further that his country supports a settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh within Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.

"Romania welcomes the patience of the parties in the negotiations on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict," he said. "I would like for progress to be reached in this respect, because Romania is concerned over the lingering ‘frozen’ conflicts in the region."

Basescu said the Karabakh dispute must be resolved in line with international law.

"But this solution cannot affect any country’s territorial integrity. We hope that the conflict will be settled on the basis of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and the norms of international law, particularly the principle of respecting the rights of minorities within a sovereign state."

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a brutal war that ended with the signing of a fragile cease-fire in 1994. About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory has been occupied by Armenian armed forces since then. Peace talks brokered by US, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.

Azerbaijan and Romania established diplomatic relations in June 1992 and have opened their embassies. The two countries have signed over 50 agreements so far.

Bilateral trade turnover made up over $177 million in 2010, according to Azerbaijan’s official statistics agency.