ArmInfo. The delegation led by the NA Vice Speaker, the head of the Armenia-Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia friendship group Eduard Sharmazanov, met with the members of the Lithuania-Armenia parliamentary friendship group as part of the working visit to Lithuania. Samvel Farmanyan and Suren Manukyan are members of the delegation. The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to Lithuania attended the meeting.
T. Mkrtchyan. "Lithuania is still the only one from the Baltic countries to recognize the Armenian Genocide," Sharmazanov said at the meeting. The NA deputies expressed their gratitude to the Lithuanian parliamentarians for their help in organizing the exhibition at the Vilnius Museum of Genocide for the 100th anniversary of the Armenian tragedy.
The sides stressed the importance of developing the Armenian-Lithuanian inter-parliamentary relations, cooperation of friendship groups, as well as the active work of the delegations of the two countries on international parliamentary platforms. Also touched upon are regional problems - the interlocutors highlighted the need for exclusively peaceful conflict resolution.
Speaking about the signing of the RA-EU comprehensive and expanded partnership agreement, the NA Vice Speaker expressed hope that Lithuania, as the first state in the world to recognize Armenia's independence, will be the first to ratify the agreement between Armenia and the EU in a short time without delays.
The interlocutors also exchanged views on one of the most important issues of Armenia's foreign policy agenda - international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide. The Vice Speaker of the National Assembly said that next year the 70th anniversary of the UN General Assembly's convention "On the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide" will be celebrated, and added that genocide is the greatest crime against humanity that does not have a statute of limitations. "Lithuania is among the countries that recognized the Armenian Genocide, I hope the parliaments of other Baltic countries will follow the example of Lithuania, I regret to note that today's Turkish authorities are pursuing a policy of denial. The policy of denial is almost equivalent to the commission of genocide. We, the parliamentarians, must fight together to condemn the genocides, as well as against the Turkish policy of denial," Sharmazanov said. The Vice Speaker of the National Assembly invited the members of the Lithuania- Armenia parliamentary friendship group to visit Yerevan.