MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay and Armenia to open reciprocal embassies

Bustillo spoke of “extraordinary” achievements in over almost 30 years of diplomatic relations

Uruguay and Armenia will up their diplomatic relations by opening up reciprocal embassies in Montevideo and Erevan, it was announced Monday.

Uruguay's Foreign Minister Francisco Bustillo announced his official trip to Armenia, where he met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

According to a statement issued by the Uruguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bustillo also met with Armenia's acting Foreign Minister Armén Grigorian and with Economy Minister Tigran Sargsian.

“Both countries are convinced that these achievements will contribute to capitalize on the great potential of trade between Uruguay and Armenia, beyond geographical distances. Likewise, they will allow the consolidation of ties, which both countries see as very promising,” the statement pointed out.

Bustillo's agenda also included a visit to the local software company Synergy International Systems, which he linked to the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technologies (CUTI) for joint developments.

“Regarding this extraordinary relationship that we have built over almost 30 years of diplomatic relations, Uruguay has decided to open an embassy here in Armenia,” Bustillo said during a joint press conference with Grigorian.

Uruguay's top diplomat also reported the signing of an agreement between two universities to “promote cooperation, the exchange of teachers and students, and the teaching of Armenian in Uruguay.”

He also expressed Montevideo's concern about the deterioration of the situation with peace and stability in the region due to the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020 for the control of Nagorno Karabakh and insisted on the need for a “peaceful solution to the conflicts”.

Grigorian, in turn, highlighted the high level of Armenian-Uruguayan relations. “We intend to take practical measures to develop cooperation in areas of common interest. Here I would like to highlight the areas of information technology, banking, management of aquatic resources and renewable energy,” said the Armenian diplomat.

Armenia also thanked Uruguayan parliamentarians for their stance during the war in Nagorno Karabakh, who condemned the violations of humanitarian law and the bombing of civilian positions in the area and pleaded for Montevideo's support in the matter of the return of Armenian “prisoners of war and civilians” still held by Azerbaijan.

Uruguay was the first country in the world to recognize, in 1965, the Armenian genocide during the last years of the Ottoman Empire (1915).

During his visit to Yerevan, Bustillo visited the monument to the victims of the genocide and laid a bouquet before the eternal flame at the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex, in memory of the 1.5 million killed in the massacre.

Armenia is the first leg of a tour that will also take the Uruguayan Foreign Minister to Georgia, Turkey and Spain.