Yesterday, President Serzh Sargsyan met with the President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė, who has arrived to Armenia on a two-day working visit. Sargsyan blamed Baku for stretching the NKR conflict regulation and the attempts of searching occasions for resuming military actions.
“Unfortunately, Azerbaijan continues to build up tension through the recurrent statements, which have nothing to do with the requirements of civilized dialogue, which seriously undermine the entire process of negotiations. Azerbaijan has chosen the tactics of foot-dragging, and is actually waiting for a chance to embark on a new reckless military scheme. Armenia welcomes the efforts of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and personal efforts of the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev aimed at the resolution of the conflict. We are ready to work, ready to negotiate; we are ready to search for compromise. However, it is essential that Azerbaijan too manifests similar desire to find a solution,” mentioned Sargsyan in his speech. And the president of Lithuania added, “Certainly, Armenia is very important for us as a stabilizing factor in the region which it may become. Despite your historical past, despite ties, relations and painful spots, despite the pain you have inherited through the ages, your people are able to solve the problems by peaceful means. The main objective and approach of the international community, including the OSCE, which is chaired today by Lithuania, is the resolution of any regional conflict by peaceful means; we believe that peaceful resolutions are achievable. No one, including international organizations, will support military solution. This is my very clear-cut message to all countries I visited in the last three days. At the same time, Lithuania will, of course, support programs of all parties aimed at the enhancement of confidence building measures. And we obviously assume that the measures will be implemented by both sides. The second issue and objective of my visit is, undoubtedly, European integration process of your country. For Lithuania, the process itself was very useful and efficient; it will be as much useful and efficient for Armenia. The process will help you to conduct reforms and achieve prosperity for your country in a shorter period of time. I congratulate you on the conclusion of yet another two chapters in the negotiations with the European Union which have commenced quite recently. Lithuania has rich experience of reforms and negotiations. We stand ready to share that experience and assist you in getting ready for negotiations, certainly, if you express such a wish.” According to the President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė, the Armenian-Lithuanian relations enter a new phase which is excellent. She noted that years ago it was very important for her country to recognize all newly independent states just as they recognized Lithuania, opening, thus, a new page of history. “For that very reason, we want everyone, who twenty years ago became independent and today continue to develop, be prosperous and able to help each other. We understand each other better than the others, who had never been so close historically. I am also delighted that we understand each other and can be helpful to each other in economic as well as international issues,” stressed President Dalia Grybauskaitė. “The second aspect, which is very important for you, is related to the programs of nuclear energy. In the view of situation with Fukusima, Europe and actually the entire world, strives to insure even higher standards of nuclear safety. It is important not only for Armenia or Lithuania but for the humankind, for the entire world. Why has Europe started this initiative to conduct stress tests for all functioning nuclear power stations in Europe? For your own safety, we would like to ask all the EU neighboring states to do the same. It’s done not only for safety but also to enhance trust among nations, to exchange information openly and freely. After discussing briefly this issue with the President of Armenia, I gathered that Armenia is ready to do it,” stated Grybauskaitė. According to her the second component or package of our relations is our bilateral relations, whose political level is very high. “Our two countries declared independence from the outset; it means that we will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of our independence together. Our economic relations have brilliant future. We are ready to make investments and are looking forward to your business activities in our country. In these 20 years, we have been going down different paths, however there are numerous similarities. We are open and ready to cooperate and to help,” she concluded.