YEREVAN (Armenpress)–Lithuania’s visiting president Rolandas Paksas laid a wreath at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan on Tuesday–in memory the 1.5 million victims of the massacre of Armenia’s by Turkey.
Touring the nearby Museum and Institute of Genocide–Paksas jotted down "Hope–faith and love," in the museum’s guestbook
"As is the case with the people of Lithuania– Armenia’s have historically traveled on a heroic road which has been laden with tragic episodes. We–therefore–understand you well; this is our great commonality. We–however–must look forward to the future. The flower I placed on the memorial is symbolic of the fact that all men must always remember such tragedies," he told reporters.
President Paksas–along with his delegation–met with representatives of Armenia’s Parliament–to assure that Lithuania would do its utmost to assist Armenia’s integration into the European community.
Lithuania is scheduled to become a full-fledged member of both the European Union and NATO in 2004.