The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, once again held meetings with his colleagues from Azerbaijan and Armenia on Wednesday, during the IV Summit of the Council of Europe, held in Reykjavik.
Albares had already had the opportunity to talk with the heads of diplomacy of these two countries a year ago, when they met in Turin (Italy), at the 132nd Committee of Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the Council of Europe.
Both in those meetings and in those of this week, the dispute between the governments of Baku and Yerevan over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh and, in general, the situation in the Caucasus region were logically discussed.
On his Twitter account, Albares said that he and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov had also agreed to continue strengthening bilateral relations.
With regard to Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, Albares said that they also discussed “good bilateral relations, strengthened by the opening of a diplomatic antenna in Yerevan, and the growing trade exchange”. Mirzoyan was in Madrid in July last year and thanked Albares for the opening of the diplomatic antenna in the Armenian capital.
Both Azerbaijan and Armenia have had embassies in Madrid for years, and the Spanish government has long expressed its desire to upgrade the diplomatic antenna in Baku to the rank of embassy, but this has not yet become a reality.
Nor has Spain’s diplomatic antenna in Georgia, with whose Foreign Minister, Ilya Darchiashvili, Albares also met on Wednesday in Reykjavik, been upgraded to the rank of embassy. In what he described as a “productive meeting”, Albares said he had reiterated Spain’s support for Georgia’s European aspirations.
