Press release, 14 October 2015
Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas, has met with Prof Norbert Lammert, President of the German Bundestag, in Berlin today. The meeting focused on the bilateral relations and the most relevant problems faced by the EU namely the refugee crisis, security of the European Union’s external borders and energy security policy.
Photos of the Deutscher Bundestag/Achim Melde
The Speaker of the Seimas underlined that Lithuania was fully aware of the challenges posed by the refugee crisis. She also stressed, however, that it was important to ensure that this crisis would not overshadow the problems of Ukraine and that support for Eastern Partnership countries would remain the focus.
“It is obvious that the refugee crisis is on top of the agenda not only in the entire European Union but also in individual EU Member States. I have no doubt, however, that this issue will be solved sooner or later and that is relevance will decrease; it is therefore very important not to forget other topical problems, namely, the situation in Ukraine and further cooperation with Eastern European countries. These are the long-term EU priorities which must not be forgotten. I am very happy that Prof Norbert Lammert, President of the German Bundestag, took note of and positively assessed Lithuania’s contribution in providing support for Ukraine and other Eastern Partnership countries,” Mrs Graužinienė said after the meeting.
During the discussion on the last weekend’s presidential elections in Belarus, Prof Lammert noted that governments of EU Member States had to continue the dialogue with the government of Belarus and that Lithuania, being its close neighbour, had to play a special role in the process.
Rosvaldas Gorbačiovas, Senior Public Relations Adviser to the Speaker of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6005, mob. +370 698 42071, e-mail: [email protected].
