POLITICS
US Senate holds hearings on ambassadors' nomination to Azerbaijan, Montenegro, Macedonia and Armenia
Hearings have examined the nominations of Robert Francis Cekuta, of New York, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan, Richard M. Mills, Jr., of Texas, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia, Jess Lippincott Baily, of Ohio, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia, and Margaret Ann Uyehara, of Ohio, to be Ambassador to Montenegro, all of the Department of State. The hearings were presided by Senate Chris Murphy and Sen. Ronald Johnson.
Chris Murphy said that the Caucasus and Balkans are very significant regions for the US. Speaking about Armenia he stressed that Armenia lags behind other regional countries in terms of economic indicators and political independence. He underlined that the US was disappointed when Armenia voted against Ukraine’s territorial integrity at UN General Assembly. Murphy said that Azerbaijan is an important partner of US especially in energy field.
Questions by Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) to both Cekuta and Mills primarily focused on the efforts to advance the Nagorno Karabakh peace negotiations. Both ambassadorial nominees reaffirmed U.S. support for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group mediation efforts and expressed intent to work closely with U.S. Co-Chair James Warlick to bring the sides closer to a settlement. Nominee Cekuta said that military settlement of conflict is unacceptable. He said that US relations with Azerbaijan are based upon security, energy and democracy principles.