Georgia and the Georgian people have trust of other partners in the region, said Foreign Minister of Lithuania, Gabrielius Landsbergis at a news conference in Tbilisi, summing up his visit to the South Caucasus together with the foreign ministers of Austria and Romania.

Lithuanian FM answered the question of the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB): “Do you see the role of Georgia as the regional peace platform keeping in mind the latest developments with the Armenian captives’ release and the fact that you sum up your visit in Tbilisi? Another question is about the protracted conflicts in Georgia. Do you have new initiatives, are there any talks about new formats on conflicts in Georgia?”

“Indeed Georgia played a crucial role. In my belief Georgia and the Georgian people have a trust of other partners in the region and that is very important when you are trying to negotiate anything, especially between the countries that have difficult time debating between themselves trying to find a solution. And the first success always meets the expectations and I would say that the expectations are quite high but they are manageable that is a good thing. This means that there is a good path forward.

At the given time and the given opportunities, Georgia can play a very crucial role in the region. Because now we have to admit that Georgia is a participant of the Eastern Partnership, Associated Trio, and it is also a participant, a non-formal participant of the non-informal group of trio in the South Caucasus. In general, it is a bridge, and I think it is a unique opportunity, with the given help of the EU and other partners, the US, a lot can be achieved. I am happy that we had this discussion today with the leaders.

As to conflicts resolution, I would like to be more optimistic about this. But we have to understand that behind the conflicts in the region, in the Eastern Partnership region, a lot of times, there is Russia’s involvement. Everywhere we travel, we have this feeling that there is somebody else standing in the room. Hopefully there was not.

We have to engage in the same formats that are present. We still have the belief in the formats that are present be it either in Georgia, in Ukraine or other countries, and find universally and internationally approved rules for negotiating the conflicts. The EU has played a part of this and will continue to pay the part of this,” the Lithuanian FM said.

The EU’s three foreign ministers of Austria, Romania and Lithuania arrived in Georgia on the mandate of the High Representative of the European Commission for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Joseph Borrell as part of their tour in the South Caucasus.

The decision on the visit of the Foreign Ministers of Austria, Romania and Lithuania to the South Caucasus was made at an informal ministerial of EU member states on May 27.