armenpress.am: Lithuania wants to deepen bilateral relations with Armenia, continue exchange of experience in various sectors and is ready to be Armenia’s friend in the future as well, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said at a joint press conference with Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan in Vilnius.

She expressed hope that the Armenian and Lithuanian governments will find ways to enhance ties.

"This year we celebrate the 30th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations. We celebrate the anniversary of restoring diplomatic ties with a number of states, but we managed to meet only with few representatives of states, and I am very happy that this meeting is taking place," PM Simonyte said.

PM Simonyte said that the June 20 Armenian elections showed the very strong support for democracy in the country.

"The prime minister and his political team received strong support. They received strong support for reforms and democratic changes. And I believe that exchange of technical knowledge and experience and best practice and solutions, lessons learned from mistakes and information on alternatives can be useful. We passed a long way, we’ve amassed a rich experience and we have exchanged this experience and will further continue to actively exchange," she said.

PM Simonyte said that soon Yerevan and Vilnius will be linked with direct flights.

Speaking about challenges facing Lithuania and Armenia, as well as other countries, PM Simonyte pointed out the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that Lithuania has very successful experience in fighting against the pandemic and is also supporting Armenia in this matter.

"Our health workers are providing assistance to Armenia, our government has made two decisions on donating vaccines to the Armenian people. We hope that we will be able to support in overcoming this issue and we will help the Armenian government," the Lithuanian PM said, noting that the Lithuanian and Armenian healthcare ministries have signed an agreement on combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Lithuanian PM thanked the Armenian government for addressing illegal migration issues.

"One of the pressing needs was ensuring translators. We need translators to communicate with people illegally crossing the border, and Armenia helped us by dispatching Kurmanji translators. We highly appreciate this assistance."

PM Simonyte said that Lithuania supports the EU’s efforts aimed at deepening partnership with Armenia and overcoming regional challenges.

Speaking about the Armenia-EU CEPA, she said: "We believe that with their support and participation  the European institutions play a highly important role. The mechanisms for re-establishing and maintaining peace are also very important. We are ready to be Armenia’s friend in the future too."