«The European Council stands for the lifting of the veil of secrecy of Karabakh settlement and giving more transparency to this process». As «Arminfo» reports, Council of Europe ministers committee chair, Lithuania's foreign minister Antanas Valionis at his meeting with Azeri journalists stated this today. According to him, the Council of Europe follows principles stated below: conflict settlement through peaceful means, observance of territorial integrity principle, reciprocal compromises from the direction of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the lifting of the veil of secrecy in the negotiation process. Besides, the CE thinks the beginning of the regional cooperation among the South Caucasian countries is an important factor. The Council of Europe thinks the optimal format for the conflict settlement is the peaceful process within the OSCE framework. In its turn, the CE might join this process through its Venetian commission when the Nagorno Karabakh's status and the mechanisms of the protection of rights of minorities are worked out. Valionis gave to understand that the Council of Europe intends to substitute for the OSCE and «to take the baton». But Valionis thinks the consideration of the variants of the settlement of Karabakh conflict in the PACE is possible. Speaking about the issue on fulfillment of Azerbaijan's obligations to the CE, Valionis confirmed that «the issue on political prisoners is spoken about at every meeting in Baku». According to him, though the Azeri part refuses the term «political prisoners», the official Baku promises to study and give «clear answers to every questions». As Valionis said, «the parts are studying the list including 716 last names of people at the present time». Despite «the complexity of the issue», the two parts are equally interested in its settlement, noted the CE representative.