Romania–Uzbekistan relations

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Romania-Uzbekistan relations
Romania	Uzbekistan

Romania–Uzbekistan relations are foreign relations between Romania and Uzbekistan. Romania recognized Uzbekistan’s independence on December 20, 1991. Both countries established diplomatic relations on October 6, 1995. Romania has an embassy in Tashkent, although Uzbekistan does not have any representation in Romania. Romania sees Uzbekistan as a potentially important partner in Central Asia, where it is trying to increase its standing, while Uzbekistan hopes to receive increased access to technology and European markets via Romania.^[1]^[2]

Refugees

After the Andijan massacre in Uzbekistan, 439 Uzbek refugees fleeing the violence were fled Uzbekistan into Kyrgyzstan. The Uzbek government claimed that leaders of the insurrection were among the refugees and demanded their repatriation, but the UNHCR decided that the refugees would instead be sent to a third country.^[3] The Romanian government agreed to take the refugees including fourteen considered by the Uzbek authorities to have been leaders in the uprising.^[4] By July 2006, nearly all of the Uzbek refugees had been resettled in other countries.^[5]

Visits

In November 2008, Lazăr Comănescu, the Romanian foreign minister, visited Uzbekistan and met with top officials including Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyayev. The visit focused on expanding economic and commercial ties between the two countries.^[6] Comanescu also raised the idea of inter-parliamentary relations between the two countries.^[7] The Romanians also agreed to assist Uzbekistan with technology related to oil and gas exploitation, and help develop a market in Europe for Uzbek goods. During the visit, Comănescu "hailed the Uzbek authorities' initiatives to strengthen civil society and human rights" and also discussed measures for stabilizing the situation in Central Asia.^[1]