On December 6, the 19th Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) started in Dublin, which was attended by the Armenian delegation led by Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.

Foreign Ministers of 57 OSCE member states, as well as the representatives of around two dozen international organizations attended the meeting.

The first meeting Edward Nalbandian in Dublin was with the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Robert Bradtke of the United States of America, Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, and Jacques Faure of France and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk. Issues related to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were discussed during the meeting. By the suggestion of the Co-Chairs, an agreement was reached to hold a meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan at the beginning of the following year.

On the same day, Edward Nalbandian attended the meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization member-states’ Foreign Ministers. In the meeting the agenda issues of the OSCE 19th Ministerial Council and the preparatory works of the Collective Security Council to be held in the second half of the year were discussed.

The Dublin agenda of Edward Nalbandian was full of bilateral meetings, as well. During the meeting between the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs and OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, the sides exchanged views on the agenda issues of the OSCE 19th Ministerial Council, including the activities of the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the projects implemented by the latter.

In the course of the meeting with the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Philippe Lefort, the results of the visit of José Barroso, the President of the European Commission to Armenia and the cooperation between Armenia and the European Union were touched upon. The EU Special Representative reaffirmed the EU readiness to support the efforts of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group in the realization of confidence-building measures between the sides.

During the meeting with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Riccardo Migliori, the sides exchanged views on regional security, the role of parliamentary diplomacy aimed at the promotion of an interaction between the OSCE member-states, and the efforts undertaken towards the settlement of the Karabakh issue. In the context of upcoming presidential elections in Armenia, Riccardo Migliori informed about his intention to personally head the OSCE PA observation mission.

In the course of the meeting between Minister Nalbandian and José Manuel García-Margallo, Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation the issues related to the development of bilateral relations, expansion of legal framework, cooperation in the international organizations, holding of consultations between the MFAs and Armenia-EU cooperation were discussed.

In Dublin Edward Nalbandian met with the Italian Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Marta Dassù who led the delegation of Italy. During the meeting the sides stressed the importance to keep the dynamics of the development of bilateral interaction. The interlocutors exchanged views on agenda issues, inter-parliamentary cooperation, and security issues in the South Caucasus, in particular the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue and the steps undertaken by the mediators towards that direction.

In Ireland’s capital a meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Switzerland Edward Nalbandian and Didier Burkhalter took place. The interlocutors expressed satisfaction with the existing high-level relations between the two countries and with the joint steps aimed at their further strengthening. The agenda of the talks included the efforts exerted by Armenia towards the maintenance of security in the South Caucasus region.