Press release, 21 July 2016
Photo of the Office of the Seimas (author Džoja Gunda Barysaitė)
On 21 July 2016, Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas, received Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, President of the Republic of Croatia, who was on her visit to Lithuania. The Speaker of the Seimas extended her congratulations to Croatia, which is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its independence this year and will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations next year.
The President of Croatia recalled the historic aspects linking our countries: Lithuania was the second country to recognise Croatia’s independence. The President of Croatia underlined that despite the geographical distance our countries shared a similar mindset, values, historic memory and an attitude towards future. The President was convinced that what both Lithuania and Croatia needed was a vision, a strategy and leadership. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović stressed that we had to act big in terms of ideas and commitments.
The meeting focused on energy security and best practices of the LNG terminal in Klaipėda. Mrs Graužinienė welcomed the decision by Croatia to pursue energy independence and to follow the example of Lithuania. “Having regained our independence, we understood that as long as we were energy-dependent, prospects for further development of the country would be very dim,” she noted.
Photo of the Office of the Seimas (author Olga Posaškova)
The Speaker of the Seimas expressed her concerns over the unsafe Astravyets nuclear power plant currently under construction in Belarus. “We hope that in cooperation with the EU institutions and through diplomatic channels we will be able to ensure compliance with the necessary safety standards,” Mrs Graužinienė said. She also expressed her appreciation of the NATO Summit recently held in Warsaw and its decisions taken.
The President of Croatia agreed that the construction of the Astravyest nuclear power plant presented a serious security challenge to the whole Europe, particularly bearing in mind the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl and its implications, and assured the Speaker of the Seimas of Croatia’s support when addressing this issue in Brussels.
The meeting also touched upon the issues of the Eastern Partnership programme and the situation in Ukraine. The Speaker of the Seimas took note of the failure to comply with the Minsk Agreements and the need to maintain the sanctions against Russia.
During the meeting, the Croatian President invited the Speaker of the Seimas to pay a visit to Croatia.
After the meeting, the Speaker and the President visited the January 13th Memorial.
Photo of the Office of the Seimas (author Olga Posaškova)
Neringa Mikėnaitė, Adviser to the Speaker of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6344, mob. +370 698 42 759, e-mail: [email protected]
