Azerbaijan, Baku, April 6 / Trend S. Agayeva /
Azerbaijan is Lithuania's important partner in the South Caucasus with active dialogue between the two countries. It is developing at different levels, Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius said in an interview with Trend.
"This time, I arrived to participate at the World Economy Forum on the Future of the South Caucasus and Central Asia, to discuss the economic cooperation between Lithuania and Azerbaijan," Butkevičius, who is on visit to Baku with a group of Lithuanian businessmen involved in a joint business forum in Baku, said.
The Lithuanian prime minister is sure that Azerbaijan's active participation in the EU's Eastern Partnership programme which will be one of the main priorities of Lithuania's chairmanship in the EU Council (Lithuania presides over the Council in the second half of the year), corresponds to Azerbaijan's fundamental interests.
"Lithuania firmly supports Azerbaijan's further integration with the European Union," he said.
He added that Lithuania wants the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius to fix Azerbaijan's significant progress in two important ways. A major breakthrough in talks on an association agreement between Azerbaijan and the EU and the possible outcome of negotiations on visa facilitation and readmission between Azerbaijan and the EU is likely. However efforts in this regard must be taken by the EU and Azerbaijan.
Relations between Azerbaijan and the EU are based on the 'Partnership and Cooperation Agreement', signed in Luxembourg in 1996 and came into force in 1999. In 2009, EU foreign ministers gave the European Commission a mandate to start negotiations on the conclusion of the bilateral association agreements with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
These agreements will be a new practical instrument which will replace the action plans.
Azerbaijan has been included in the EU programme Eastern Partnership adopted at the initiative of Poland and Sweden and approved at the EU summit in Brussels in 2008. The purpose of the programme is the EU convergence with Ukraine, Armenia, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Belarus. The programme envisages a significant increase in the level of political interaction, the amount of financial assistance and broad integration of former Soviet republics into the EU economy and strengthening energy security.
Touching upon the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, he stressed that there is no alternative to the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"The unresolved conflict hinders the development of the entire region," he said. "We appreciate the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group in searching for a lasting and peaceful settlement. However, we are convinced that Azerbaijan's further integration with the European Union could help to resolve the conflict."
"The EU is ready to contribute to the development of mutual trust," he said. "We hope this will open up new opportunities to search for a dialogue with the parties to the conflict."
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.