1 September 2005 (RFE/RL) -- U.S. Senator Richard Lugar (Republican, Indiana) on 31 August said he is "impressed" by preparations for November parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan.
Speaking in Baku, Lugar said he sees in Azerbaijan a yearning for building strong democratic institutions. Earlier this week, the Republican senator said he does not expect a revolution in Azerbaijan similar to those in other former Soviet republics in recent years.
He said he is not an advocate of revolution, and that he does not anticipate revolution in Azerbaijan. Lugar said Azerbaijan will receive aid under the program to set up an equivalent of the U.S. Coast Guard. The coast-guard program envisages countering nuclear as well as conventional weapons traffic through the Caspian region.
(AFP)
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