The lack of progress on conflicts in the OSCE area at the Astana summit in December last year will be an extra stimulus to the active work of the Lithuanian chairmanship of the organization, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for Protracted Conflicts Giedrius Cekuolis.
"It is not the first time in diplomacy when one cannot realize all that was initially planned. Discordance on paper on the conflicts at the Astana summit means for the Lithuanian presidency a further impetus to work more actively in 2011 so that a similar document was agreed at the ministerial meeting in December in Vilnius, where the work of Lithuania will be summed up," Cekuolis said in an interview with the Trend news agency in Baku.
"From the early times of the Lithuanian chairmanship in the OSCE, it was determined that it will be open, clear and specific as possible," Cekuolis said.
The OSCE has 56 member countries with different problems, traditions and religious characteristics. Moreover, all issues are taken by consensus, and it certainly complicates the decision-making process, he said. When the decision is made, it is fundamental.
"All countries are different, but there is a desire to find common ground, and the format of the OSCE assists in this," Cekuolis said. "I am an optimist. If I had not believed in the possibility to achieve at least a little progress, I would simply not engage in issues of conflict."
The expert community has an opinion that the Lithuanian chairmanship will focus more on the settlement of the Georgian conflict, rather than on Nagorno-Karabakh.
Cekuolis has dispersed these arguments. Such a claim does not meet the real situation, he said. Technically it is impossible to separate into pieces the attention given to each of the conflicts related to my mandate - Nagorno-Karabakh, Georgian and Transdniestria.
"All three conflicts relate to my mandate for this year, and we are considering all options, which can be helpful, on all three problems," he said. "One cannot say that any conflict is given a preference."
Negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have been carried out under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group since 1992.
"I understand that 18 years of negotiations is a significant period, but the Minsk Group in this period did much for the OSCE," Cekuolis said." Yes, the conflict remains frozen, but it should be evaluated the fact it was achieved to prevent it from escalating."
The Minsk Group, he said, a good tool, but every instrument can be improved indefinitely.
Cekuolis would like to see more efforts in the work of the Minsk Group to identify the political will of parties to the conflict.
"Political will is not enough, and we hope to wake up this will. The Minsk Group is capable of it," he said. "We believe that this group could greatly advance, of course, under favorable political circumstances."
Cekuolis preferred not to name more concrete measures on the conflict resolution, as all initiatives are yet to be discussed.
"My main goal during this visit is to attentively study the views of the parties, both in Baku and Yerevan. You [the conflicting parties] are the best experts in the glow conflict. Ways to resolve the conflict may be developed with the political will, your knowledge, and the help of the OSCE," he added.
Moreover, Cekuolis would like to see more active contacts between the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities. "All the countries in the OSCE communicate with each other, and eventually it may be the devil is not so terrible as he is painted," Cekuolis said.
Cekuolis is on a two-day visit to Azerbaijan. The visit is aimed to prepare the upcoming mid-March meetings of OSCE Chairman, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Aћubalis in Baku. Following his visit to Baku, Cekuolis will visit Tbilisi and will conclude his South Caucasus tour with discussions in Yerevan.
