Lithuanian Foreign Affairs Committee, that investigated "diplomats` scandal" on Monday, decided that diplomats Juška and Žurauskas should not be removed from their posts, and should remain in the diplomatic service.
On July 8, recordings of three phone conversations (4 parts of the records in total) were published on youtube.com. The conversations allegedly involve Lithuanian diplomats Zenonas Kumetaitis, deputy director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs` Eastern Neighborhood Policy Department, Lithuania`s Ambassador to Hungary Renatas Juška, Lithuania`s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Artūras Žurauskas, and Gediminas Kasputis, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In one of the records, Žurauskas is said to be talking to a Lithuanian businessman identified as Kęstutis.
All records feature English subtitles.
The two recordings mention relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Lithuania is holding EU Council presidency in the second half of the year, and the Eastern Partnership summit scheduled for November is one of the key presidency events. The Eastern Partnership initiative covers bilateral and multilateral EU cooperation with Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Moldova, promoting closer ties of the Eastern European nations with the EU.
Azerbaijan`s Ambassador to Lithuania Hasan Mammadzada has commented that the leaked diplomatic conversations are a provocation against Azerbaijan and Lithuania.
Lithuania`s Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius has dismissed the incident as information provocation.
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