On November 26, by the participation of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Lithuania Edward Nalbandian and Audronius Ažubalis the official opening ceremony of the Embassy of Armenia to Lithuania took place in Vilnius. The ceremony was attended by members of the Lithuanian Parliament, high-ranking officials of the MFA and representatives of the Armenian community. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Lithuania, as well as the Armenian Ambassador to Lithuania delivered speeches at the opening ceremony. In his speech, Minister Nalbandian mentioned that it is symbolic to open the Armenian Embassy to Vilnius when the 20 th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries is celebrated. Minister Nalbandian particularly said, “Lithuania is the first country recognizing Armenia’s independence and the first inter-state agreement of Armenia was signed with Lithuania. The first foreign visit of the first Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia was paid to Lithuania. Lithuania is the only Baltic country to establish an Embassy in Armenia and so far it is the only Baltic country where Armenia opens its Embassy. All those facts are the proof of our willingness to expand and deepen the cooperation between our countries. We have an intensive political dialogue which is conducted through reciprocal high-level visits and consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs. This year we had the honour to host the President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskait?. During her visit, the Armenian President promised to open the Armenian Embassy to Vilnius by the end of the year and now it became a reality.” Edward Nalbandian congratulated the Armenian Community in Lithuania on the occasion of the opening of the Armenian Embassy, as well, expressing hope that Armenian Lithuanians would contribute to the development of the Armenian-Lithuanian relations with a new energy. In his speech the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, recalling the Armenian-Lithuanian historical similarities, mentioned that the establishment of the Armenian Embassy would open a new page in bilateral friendly relations and the Lithuanian authorities would do their utmost to support the activities of the Embassy. Under the national anthem of Armenia, the Armenian Ambassador to Lithuania Ara Ayvazyan raised the state flag of the Republic of Armenia. Afterwards, the pastor of the Armenian Apostolic Church Ter Khosrov made Embassy’s order of consecration. Then the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Lithuania opened the board of the RA Embassy which marked the establishment of the diplomatic mission. After the opening ceremony, the meeting between Edward Nalbandian and the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis took place. Welcoming Edward Nalbandian, the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs mentioned that he was grateful to meet his Armenian counterpart in Vilnius on the occasion of the official opening of the Armenian Embassy. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs discussed issues related to the development of bilateral relations – trade-economic, cultural and inter-parliamentary cooperation. In the course of the meeting issues were discussed concerning the OSCE Ministerial meeting to be held on 6-7 December in Vilnius in the frames of Lithuania's OSCE Chairmanship. Audronius Ažubalis highly assessed Armenia’s contribution to the activities of the OSCE, in particular stressing Armenia’s constructive engagement in the structures of the Organization. Edward Nalbandian presented the recent developments in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, and the proposals made by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs before their upcoming regional visit to be paid next week. The sides touched upon the issues of bilateral cooperation in the international organizations, as well. From public relations and information department of RA Foreign Ministry

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