Press release, 21 May 2013
Vydas Gedvilas, Speaker of the Seimas and the delegation led by him has met with Josip Leko, Speaker of the Croatian Parliament (Sabor) in Zagreb.
Vydas Gedvilas noted that this was the first visit of the head of the Lithuanian Parliament in the history of bilateral relations held in the period of special significance to Lithuania – on the eve of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU and Croatia’s EU accession. “We feel delighted and greatly support Croatia’s membership in the EU and are ready to share our experience”, says the Speaker of the Seimas. “Croatia has shown a good example to the other Western Balkan countries. We hope for your active role in strengthening regional cooperation”, says Vydas Gedvilas.
The meeting also discussed the issues of regional cooperation, energy security, fiscal discipline, etc. The Speaker of the Croatian Parliament supported the idea expressed by Mr Gedvilas that close cooperation of small states is particularly important in the context of the European Union, and the cooperation between the Nordic and Baltic countries (NB8) can serve as an excellent example here.
The Speaker of the Seimas also highlighted the parliament’s role in considering the EU agenda. The Seimas Committee on European Affairs would be ready to share this experience, while the activities of the groups for inter-parliamentary relations would also contribute to further enhancement of the relations between the two parliaments.
Sigita Trainauskienė, Department of International Relations, tel: +370 5 239 6212,
e-mail: [email protected]
Justė Radzevičiūtė-Laugalienė, Public Relations Unit, tel: 370 5 239 6210,
e-mail: [email protected])
