News

On 2 May, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis met with Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa, who came to Vilnius to participate in the informal meeting of the Ministerial Committee of the Council of Europe (CoE) at the invitation of CoE Secretary General Walter Schwimmer. During the meeting, Antanas Valionis made an introduction of Lithuanian relations with the Arab countries. Lithuanian Foreign Minister noted that Lithuania was the first Baltic state to open its embassy in the Egyptian capital of Cairo at the end of 2001. Minister Valionis also briefed on the results of Lithuania’s CoE chairmanship and answered the questions on the prospects of crisis management in Nagorno-Karabakh and Transdniestria. Amre Moussa expressed his opinion that the conflict in the Middle East could only be settled by the interference of an impartial and influential mediator. According to the Secretary General, Israelis and Palestinians themselves are not capable of solving the problem peacefully. Amre Moussa stressed the necessity of implementing recently adopted UN Security Council resolutions on cessation of violence and withdrawing of Israeli army from the occupied Palestinian territories. The Arab League is a regional organisation embracing 22 Arab states united by the same language and religion.