Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharyan (Source: Washington Post)

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)—There have been no delays in new negotiations between Armenia and the European Union, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharyan said during a briefing today in Yerevan.

According to Kocharyan, consent of all EU member states is needed for a mandate to extend Armenia-EU relations.

“It takes a lot of time in a bureaucratic sense. After the mandate is granted, the team of negotiators may definitely enter into a dialog. We cannot know what stage the process has reached now. As a matter of fact, it should be a consensual decision. I don’t think that any state will refuse its consent,” Kocharyan said.

Kocharyan also briefed journalists about the status of an Armenian church in Chisinau, Moldova, that faces legal issues over the ownership of an adjacent cemetery.

“There are legal issues here. In any case, both the Community and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, within its powers, are consistent on assisting the solution of the problem,” Kocharyan stated.

According to Kocharyan, the St. Haroutyoun Armenian Church had been preserved due to the Armenian community’s efforts; the church and its documents was handed to the local Armenian community in 2003. The church’s cemetery, however, has been privatized by an individual who is now trying to get rid of the property.

Armenians in Moldova turned to Etchmiadzin and the government of the Republic of Armenia for assistance.