Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. The meeting was attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Lithuania to Armenia Inga Stanytė-Toločkienė.

The Acting Prime Minister noted that Armenia is interested in developing relations with Lithuania in both bilateral and multilateral formats. “As a democratic nation, Armenia appreciates cooperation with Lithuania in the framework of EU-Armenia partnership as well,” he said. Nikol Pashinyan stressed that in this challenging post-war period, Armenia is committed to advancing the democratic reforms for the sake of the rule of law and human rights.

Foreign Minister Landsbergis assured that Lithuania will support the Armenian people in dealing with the post-war crisis and with the negative impact of COVID-19. He noted that as an EU- member country, Lithuania is prepared to promote this process and provide humanitarian assistance. In his words, the EU is eager to help develop democracy in Armenia and will take a more active stance in this respect.

Coming to the post-war situation, Nikol Pashinyan spoke about the Armenian POWs held in Azerbaijan, Baku’s continued anti-Armenian rhetoric, the opening of the so-called Trophy Park, the claims against Armenia’s sovereign territory, the destruction of Armenian religious and cultural heritage in the territories under Azerbaijani control. According to him, all this makes it obvious that the principle of “remedial secession” should be applied to Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Acting Premier thanked the Minister for Lithuania’s readiness to support Armenia. He underscored that our country is heading along the path of democratic development, guided by a common value system, and expects the European Union, first of all the EU-member nations to adequately respond to Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian policy.

The Lithuanian Foreign Minister said his country backs the EU’s clear-cut position, which implies that all hostages and captives should be repatriated. He emphasized that Lithuania fully supports the efforts aimed at preserving the Armenian historical and cultural heritage.