/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

Romania’s National Culture Day - the day when country’s National Poet Mihai Eminescu was born 165 years ago - was solemnly celebrated in Baku on January 15.

Daniel Cristian Ciobanu, Romanian Ambassador to Azerbaijan participated in a live morning show of the Azerbaijani national television channel AzTV.

Ciobanu spoke about the significance and importance of this day for Romanian people, as well as about excellent bilateral relations between Romania and Azerbaijan.

Farida Hajieva, Azerbaijani poetess and author of several wonderful translations of Mihai Eminescu’s poems in Azerbaijani language, a few creations of Romanian national poet read during the TV show.

Mihai Eminescu was a Romantic poet, novelist and journalist, often regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet.

A flower-laying festivity took place at the monument of Romanian composer George Enescu in Baku followed by a ceremony celebrating the issuing of the joint stamp edition Romania-Azerbaijan on the topic of Traditional Folk Art and a poetry moment, during which poems of Romanian National Poet Mihai Eminescu were read.

Romanian ambassador, representatives from the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ministry of Communications and High Technologies, Azermarka company, city authorities, culture figures, journalists, members of Romanian community in Azerbaijan and a large public took part in the event.

Ambassador Ciobanu pointed out that Romanian culture is very appreciated in Azerbaijan. According to Ambassador, Eminescu was the poet who best described Romanian soul, as well as Romanian’s beautiful nature, traditions and history.

He also added that, at the same time, the joint stamp edition on the theme of Traditional Folk Art creates a metaphoric arch over time, symbolically uniting Romanian and Azerbaijani people in the spirit of friendship and mutual respect, which is a characteristic of relations between Bucharest and Baku today.

He highlighted that Azerbaijan is a strategic partner for Romania. Romania was the second country to recognize independence of Azerbaijan back in 1991 and since then bilateral political dialogue and economic cooperation have become increasingly strong and significant.

Ambassador Ciobanu also noted that Romania is a strong supporter of further development of relations between Azerbaijan and NATO and European Union, underlying that Romanian embassy is currently fulfilling its fourth mandate as NATO Contact Point Embassy in Azerbaijan, which will last until the end of 2016.

Azerbaijan and Romania have a long history of relations dating back to the 15th century.

While the two sides enjoy good cooperation in multiple areas, the main focus has been on trade and energy links, with trade delegations and frequent talks on further development of such ties and an increase in bilateral trade since trade originating from Azerbaijan approximately five times more than ($161 million) of those from Romania ($31.83 million).

Romania also has been a strong advocate of Azerbaijan's future membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), pointing out the strategic importance of the country for trade and shipping, particularly with a view towards Afghanistan.