"Lithuania has not made any serious statements and has so far shown a neutral position regarding Armenia-Azerbaijani relations and the former Karabakh conflict. We have occasionally heard statements from Lithuania only about the peaceful resolution of the issue."
A member of the working group on Azerbaijan-Lithuania inter-parliamentary relations, MP Vugar Iskandarov (YAP), said so.
Fakt Yoxla examined whether this claim was true.
It should be noted that a day before the MP’s statement, on December 16, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania made a statement and said that they were deeply concerned about the blockade of the Lachin Corridor, which has caused a humanitarian crisis.
The dissatisfaction of the Azerbaijani side was related to the expression "Nagorno-Karabakh" in the statement of the MFA of Lithuania.
The screenshot has been taken from the Twitter page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania.
"We remind the Lithuanian side that the territorial unit called "Nagorno-Karabakh" does not exist on the territory of Azerbaijan. Just as Lithuania is no longer called a "Baltic state”, it is unacceptable to call the Karabakh Economic Region of Azerbaijan by former names formed during the Soviet Union," said the statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.
Lithuania was one of the first countries to recognize the independence of Azerbaijan.
As for the MP's claim, Lithuanian officials have repeatedly declared that the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan.
June 8, 2006: A Joint Statement was signed between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Lithuania. Paragraphs 8 and 9 of the statement refer to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The document fully supports the principles of the UN Charter and the three principles adopted at the Lisbon Summit of the OSCE and emphasizes the importance of a peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict based on the principles of state sovereignty, territorial integrity, and inviolability of borders.
Almost 1 year after this statement, on September 13, 2007, the presidents of Lithuania and Azerbaijan again signed a statement together. In this document, the importance of a peaceful resolution of the conflict based on the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and inviolability of borders of the states was once again mentioned.
In the international documents referred to in the above statements for the purpose of resolving the conflict, it is emphasized that Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan. That is, since Lithuania also recognizes the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan, it said that the conflict should be resolved peacefully on the basis of the condition of restoring territorial integrity.
May 26, 2010: At the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission of Azerbaijan and Lithuania in Vilnius, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Audronius Ažubalis, said that they fully supported the statements made by the European Union and OSCE about the parliamentary elections held by the separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Two days before that meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Kanat Saudabayev, who was the head of the OSCE, stated that the elections held there could not have any effect on the settlement of the conflict, as the OSCE did not recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh.
May 15, 2015: During the meeting between the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Khalaf Khalafov, and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Andrius Krivas, the latter stated that Lithuania supported the right position of Azerbaijan in the conflict and that trade and economic activity in the occupied territories should be based on the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Khalafov brought to the attention of his Lithuanian colleague that Lithuania's sensitivity towards the fair position of Azerbaijan was highly appreciated.
May 17, 2016: A delegation including Kamran Nabizade, the head of the working group on Azerbaijan-Lithuania inter-parliamentary relations, MPs Mukhtar Babayev and Elshad Hasanov, who was on a visit to Vilnius, met with Lithuanian officials.
At the meeting, the chairman of the working group of the Lithuanian Seimas (parliament) on inter-parliamentary relations with Azerbaijan, Yuras Pojela, announced that the official position of his country regarding the conflict was unchanged and that Lithuania recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as the territory of Azerbaijan.
Moreover, the deputy chairman of the working group, Mantas Adomėnas, said that he was in favor of a peaceful and fair solution to the conflict, which could be possible only within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
December 20, 2016: In a meeting with Hasan Mammadzade, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Lithuania, Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas, reiterated his country's official position regarding the recognition of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and expressed respect for Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and independence.
February 6, 2017: Deputy Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas, head of the European Affairs Committee, Gediminas Kirkilas, who met with Ambassador Hasan Mammadzade, reiterated his country's official position and noted that it supported Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Fakt Yoxla concludes based on the above that MP Vugar Iskandarov’s claim is False.
