Wednesday, 26 April 2006
Today in "Mariott Armenia" hotel complex, RA Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan has met with President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus who is in Armenia on official visit.
Having expressed satisfaction at the current level of the Armenian-Lithuanian political relationship, the Prime Minister stated that Armenia was interested in their further strengthening and development, expansion of cooperation in the economic sphere. He emphasized the importance of bilateral contacts, especially reciprocated high-level visits, which have become more frequent in recent years and went on to say that the present visit of President Valdas Adamkus-led delegation would provide a strong stimulus for the further development of mutual relations. In this context, Andranik Margaryan also mentioned the planned for this autumn visits of Lithuanian Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lithuania.
The Armenian Prime Minister further said that Armenia attached great importance to the cooperation with Lithuania in the sphere of European integration, taking into account its long experience in this area. Having informed his interlocutor that within the frameworks of the European Neighborhood Policy, a second round of negotiations on EU-Armenia program of actions was planned in May of this year, Andranik Margaryan expressed hope that the program would be approved during 2006 and stated that our country was ready to consider under this program of actions the possibility of cooperation with Lithuania, among other EU States.
The President of Lithuania emphasized that Lithuania looked upon its relations with the countries of Southern Caucasus on their way to European integration as a priority of its foreign policy. Having noted the importance of the regional initiatives between nations and long-term cooperation in this direction, Valdas Adamkus informed that a summit of country heads of Baltic States and those of the Black Sea region was scheduled on in May 4-5 of the current year, with participation of representatives from about 15 countries, including high-ranking officials of Armenia, the USA, the European Union and the NATO which was to be held with the purpose of developing new forms of dialogue between the countries of region, Russia, the European Union and the NATO.
During conversation, the head of the government of Armenia also emphasized the importance of expansion of the successfully developing cooperation of our country with the NATO, considering it as a key to euro-integration. As he said, Armenia was going to take maximum advantage of the opportunities available in the individual partnership program (IPAP), and expected assistance on the part of Lithuania in the matter of cooperation with the NATO in these frameworks, as well as effective participation in IPAP implementation.
During the meeting both sides mentioned the importance of close cooperation of representatives of the two countries both within the framework of European structures and other international and regional organizations, emphasizing the necessity of developing close inter-parliamentary cooperation and inter-party communications.
Regarding the regional cooperation, the Prime Minister briefed the President of Lithuania on the current status of Armenia
