Seimas Group for Inter-Parliamentary Relations with the Republic of Armenia call on the Republic of Azerbaijan to accelerate the exchange of prisoners of war

We, the undersigned Members of the Group for Inter-Parliamentary Relations with the Republic of Armenia of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania,

having regard to

• the Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on Nagorno-Karabakh, issued on 19 November 2020,
• the commitment by the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan made at the end of 2020 to exchange prisoners of war and other detainees on the basis of the ‘all for all’ principle,
• the appeal of the representative of the European External Action Service of 29 January 2021, and
• the statement by the Political Assembly of the European People’s Party of 1 February 2021,

also noting point 8 of the Statement on a complete ceasefire  by the leaders of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation made on 10 November 2020,

call on the Republic of Azerbaijan to accelerate the exchange of bodies of the killed, as well as the exchange of prisoners of war and hostages, to immediately end criminal proceedings against them and ensure their transfer to the Republic of Armenia.

An unconditional and immediate return of prisoners will be one of the first steps towards the restoration of a trust-based atmosphere between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia. We also call on the institutions of the European Union to raise this humanitarian issue consistently in the context of the current and future relations with the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Raimundas Lopata, Head of the Group for Inter-Parliamentary Relations with the Republic of Armenia, tel: +370 5 239 6627, e-mail: [email protected]