Vydas Gedvilas, Speaker of the Seimas, met with Sauli Niistö, President of Finland, on his official visit to Lithuania.
The Speaker of the Seimas expressed his appreciation of the intensive and dynamic cooperation and the development of political, economic, and other bilateral ties between Lithuania and Finland.
Mr Gedvilas observes that our countries also maintain active inter-parliamentary relations, since a large Group for Inter-Parliamentary Relations with North European Countries has been set up in the Seimas, with Giedrė Purvaneckienė as Chair and Petras Auštrevičius, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas and former Lithuania Ambassador to Finland, as Deputy Chair of the Group. In addition, the Speaker of the Seimas underlines that the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) plays an important role by holding regular meetings of Speakers of Parliaments, joint visits and discussions on issues of concern.
In the context of Lithuania’s economy, Finland is leading in the number of initiated foreign direct investment projects. “We highly appreciate your investment, which contributes to the growth of our gross domestic product,” stressed the Speaker. Mr Gedvilas indicated that the combined heat and power plant that had been constructed by the Finish Company Fortum in Klaipėda and would be opened with the participation of the Finnish President was as an example of Finland’s investment in Lithuania.
The Speaker of the Seimas says that Lithuania has entered the final stage of the preparation for its Presidency of the Council of the European Union. According to Mr Gedvilas, Lithuania focuses on three areas which can be characterised as a credible, growing and open Europe.
The President of Finland agrees that cooperation in the NB8 format enables small countries to jointly address matters of high importance, such as energy security and enlargement. Mr Niinistö is glad to see the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region among the priorities of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU. He says that this priority is of great importance to the whole region. The President also shared Finland’s experience in the area of nuclear energy stressing the link between energy and environment protection.
Finally, Mr Niinistö assured the Speaker of the Seimas of Finland’s full support to the upcoming Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU, Lithuania’s aspirations to introduce the euro and join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and Lithuania’s candidacy for a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
Nerijus Vėta, Public Relations Unit, tel: +370 5 239 6208, e-mail: [email protected]
