On 20 July 2012, Mrs Irena Degutienė, Speaker of the Seimas, attended an annual meeting in Vilnius with the representatives of the diplomatic missions of the Republic of Lithuania and made an overview of the Seimas foreign policy achievements, including agreements signed by the Lithuanian parliamentary parties on the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council and on defence policy in 20122016, adoption of laws on energy security, and a particular focus on the policy of preservation of historical memory.
The Speaker of the Seimas observed that the Accord of the Political Parties Represented at the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania on the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the Second Half of 2013 signed on 14 October 2011 will ensure the continuity of Lithuanias commitments to the EU and national European policy priorities after the parliamentary elections in 2012. The Accord establishes that Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union is the national task which the political authorities shall fulfil smoothly and in solidarity irrespective of the affiliation of the Seimas political groups formed by the political parties to the Seimas majority or the opposition and the fulfilment of which shall not be subject to political competition in the election and shall not flounder because of the changes in the political power.
Mrs Degutienė informed the ambassadors about the active preparations of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania for the parliamentary dimension of the Presidency: the Lithuanian Presidency priorities have been approved, inter-parliamentary Presidency events have been envisaged, and Speakers of the Lithuanian, Irish, and Greek Parliaments have signed a declaration on cooperation between the parliaments of the three countries in preparation for the Presidency of the Council and during the Presidency itself.
The Presidency of the EU Council is more than a mere test of administrative and organizational capacities of Lithuania. It offers an opportunity for Lithuania to raise its profile in the EU institutions and become a fully-fledged member of the Community striving to achieve the priorities of the Lithuanias European policy and debate the future of the EU, the Speaker of the Seimas said.
Lithuania's preparations for the Presidency of the Council of the European Union were also covered on 16-17 July 2012 at the round-table discussion of heads of diplomatic missions of the Republic of Lithuania entitled The Lithuanian Presidency of the Council in 2013. During the round-table discussion, the parliamentary dimension of the Presidency was presented in detail by Jonas Milerius, Secretary General of the Seimas, and Loreta Raulinaitytė, Senior Adviser to Secretary General, Head of the Coordination Working Group.
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