Press release, 14 January 2016
Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas, has met with Christine Defraigne, Chair of the Senate of the Kingdom of Belgium, who is presently on an official visit to Lithuania. The meeting focused on bilateral political and economic relations and current events on the international stage.
Photo of the Office of the Seimas (author Olga Posaškova)
“I sincerely thank you for your visit at such an important time for Lithuania – 25th anniversary of 13 January,” said Ms Graužinienė.
The Speaker of the Seimas welcomed active interparliamentary cooperation between Belgium and Lithuania and expressed hope that, in the future, it would be even greater. Other points of the discussion included attraction of investment and innovation as well as cooperation in high technology. A strong emphasis was put on energy security matters.
Concerning major European policy challenges such as the growing threat of terrorism and refugee crisis, the Speaker of the Seimas noted that “small countries like Lithuania and Belgium were to call for the European Union to remain united and consistently defend common European values while at the same time ensuring the control and effective management of the EU’s external borders without prejudice to the Schengen area.”
As regards the new threats to European security, Loreta Graužinienė emphasized that the refugee crisis should not overshadow the crisis in Ukraine and Eastern Partnership issues – the issues on which the European Union had to speak with one voice. Furthermore, the Speaker of the Seimas stressed the importance of the introduction of a visa-free regime to Ukraine and Georgia.
As part of her visit, Christine Defraigne will meet with Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of the Republic of Lithuania; Algirdas Butkevičius, Prime Minister; the minister of justice; chairs of the Seimas committees on European Affairs and on Foreign Affairs; the equal opportunities ombudsperson; and the Belgian community in Lithuania.
Rosvaldas Gorbačiovas, Senior Adviser to the Speaker of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6005,
mob. +370 698 42 071, e-mail: [email protected]
