Lithuania in favour of peaceful solution to Armenian-Azeri conflict – speaker
Space TV, Baku
6 Jun 05
[Presenter] A delegation led by Arturas Paulauskas, chairman of the
Lithuanian Seimas, is visiting Baku. President Ilham Aliyev received
the delegation today. Aliyev stressed that there are good
opportunities for improving bilateral relations between the
countries. For his part, Paulauskas said the visit aims to strengthen
relations between Azerbaijan and Lithuania. Then he informed Aliyev
about the work of Lithuania’s parliamentary entities and said they
were ready to share their experience with their Azerbaijani
counterparts.
Parliament Speaker Murtuz Alasgarov also received Paulauskas
today. The meeting discussed mainly the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.
[Presenter over video of the meeting] Mr Alasgarov said a friendship
commission is operating between the Azerbaijani and Lithuanian
parliaments. He said annual trade between the two countries amounts to
3m dollars. He added that Azerbaijan is interested in improving ties
with Lithuania. Alasgarov also said that Azerbaijan will hold
parliamentary elections under the first-past-the-post system this
autumn.
Alasgarov said the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijan’s territories is
a national tragedy. He said Lithuania’s support in international
organizations is important for Azerbaijan to secure its territorial
integrity.
Paulauskas said Lithuania would do its utmost to make sure that the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs step up their work on the settlement of the
conflict. The Lithuanian government believes that the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict can be resolved only by preserving Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity and hopes that the negotiations will yield
positive results, Paulauskas said.