Newly appointed OSCE Special Representative for the Caucasus Joao Soares said about necessity to support the OSCE Minsk Group engaged in the Karabakh peace process.

OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Petros Efthymiou announced the appointment on Saturday in the plenary of the 20th Annual Session. Joao Soares replaced Goran Lennmarker.

“I am honoured to fill this role to help build stronger bridges between parliamentarians in the area, reinforce ongoing discussions throughout the Caucasus, and do what we can to support the OSCE Minsk Group process to bring about lasting peace in the region,” Soares said, OSCE PA official website reports.

Soares was appointed after consultations with the delegations of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

“Joao Soares has extensive knowledge and personal relationships with important interlocutors in the region.  In addition, he has the necessary diplomatic skills to help bring people of all backgrounds together and focus the needed political attention on the continuing conflicts in the Caucasus. I look forward to his work adding a parliamentary component to ongoing discussions,” Efthymiou said.