Press release, 21 May 2013
During his official visit to Croatia, Vydas Gedvilas, Speaker of the Seimas, and the delegation led by him met with Ivo Josipović, President of the Republic of Croatia.
At the meeting, Vydas Gedvilas underlined that Lithuania supports Croatia’s upcoming membership of the European Union. “As the country taking over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 July, the date marking the start of your membership, we congratulate you on joining the EU,” Vydas Gedvilas said.
The Speaker of the Seimas said Croatia had set an excellent example to other Western Balkan countries and expressed his hope that Croatia would actively develop regional cooperation and share its experience.
It was noted that despite being long, the negotiation process helped Croatia’s internal transformation and the country made significant progress in fostering democratic values, strengthening human rights and ensuring the rule of law.
The Lithuanian parliamentary leader highlighted that Lithuania, as the following Presidency of the Council, places considerable importance on Croatia’s integration into the EU institutional framework and is ready to share its experience on the functioning of all EU institutions, involvement in EU decision-making and interaction between the parliament and the government in considering EU matters.
Mr Gedvilas also briefed the Croatian President on the priorities of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council drawing attention to the Eastern Partnership. Having noted the positive impact of the membership on his country, the Croatian President stressed the need for maintaining an open door policy by the EU towards other candidate countries.
Sigita Trainauskienė, International Relations Department, tel: +370 5 239 6212, e-mail: [email protected]
Nerijus Vėta, Public Relations Unit, tel: 370 5 239 6208, e-mail: [email protected]
