YEREVAN, 11 May 2013 – After concluding a week-long visit to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Special Representative on South Caucasus stressed the importance of continuing democratic development and peace building in the region.

"The only hope for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh comes down to the political leaders in Armenia and Azerbaijan," Joao Soares said today. "There is no alternative to a peaceful solution."

In Yerevan, Soares (MP, Portugal) met today with representatives from political parties and civil society and expressed the Parliamentary Assembly's support for efforts at democratic reform.

Earlier in the week, in Azerbaijan, Soares also discussed the ongoing conflict and urged for political will to bring about a peaceful settlement. In meetings with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and others, Soares raised issues related to regional and economic development and discussed Baku's upcoming hosting of the 2014 OSCE PA Annual Session.

In Georgia, OSCE PA President Wolfgang Grossruck and Soares met with Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvilli and President Mikheil Saakashvili and Speaker of Parliament David Usupashvili. They discussed the state of politics in Georgia, a mutual desire to strengthen OSCE involvement in the country, and the status of Georgia-Russia relations.

"The peaceful transition of power in Georgia last autumn clearly signaled the country's democratic progress," Soares said. "Georgia's handling for the first time ever in the post-Soviet area of governmental cohabitation is a sign of democracy."

Soares, a former president of the Assembly, and longtime election observer in the region, has visited the countries several times before, but this week marked his first official visit in his capacity as Special Representative on South Caucasus.