“Lithuania will hardly provoke a revolution in solving the protracted conflicts during its chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), but will work in all directions to achieve positive results,” said Special Representative of the Chairman in Office, Ambassador Giedrius Čekuolis at a press conference on Wednesday. “I doubt we will provoke a revolution in solving the protracted conflicts, since OSCE is an organization in which progress is measured in millimeters. Yet each millimeter achieved is worth its weight in gold. And we are determined to go down that road, taking advantage of every opportunity that comes our way,” said Ambassador Čekuolis. According to the ambassador, territorial conflicts in Georgia, Moldova/Transdniestria and Nagorno-Karabakh are the key protracted conflicts which are to be handled. “Each conflict already has its own diplomatic and institutional legacy which Lithuania will seek to exploit. For example, Georgia”s conflicts are discussed in the Geneva framework six times a year, involving Georgia, Russia, USA, and Georgia”s South Ossetia and Abkhazia. A troika comprising the EU, OSCE and UN representatives chairs the discussions and also visits the conflict areas prior to every meeting in Geneva.
The main goal is to create a stable environment for contacts and dialogue, which would help these protracted conflicts evolve in a civilized and peaceful way,” said Ambassador Čekuolis.
