18 November
During his first official visit
to the Republic of Latvia, Speaker of the Seimas Arūnas Valinskas met with the
leaders of the state. Head of the
Latvian Saeima Gundars Daudze received Mr. Valinskas in the building of the
parliament, and President of Latvia Valdis Zatlers received him in his
residence in the Riga Castle. The
Speaker of the Seimas also met with Latvian Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis and
Minister of Foreign Affairs Maris Riekstins, and had dinner with Deputy Speaker
of the Latvian Saeima Karina Petersone.
The priorities were given to the
issues of energy and financial crisis, coordination of positions in the
European Union and NATO, and the events to mark the 20th anniversary
of the Baltic Road.
While expressing Lithuania’s
position on energy issues, Mr. Valinskas noted that the most important task was
to reduce the risk of energy safety through diminishing energetic exclusion of
the Baltic states and their energetic dependency on one external supplier. Concerning the implementation of the link
with Sweden, he assured that Lithuania was ready to start the project.
“We have established a company,
carried out a feasibility study, and we have all necessary finance. With regard to the surveys conducted and
the current situation, Lithuania could implement the “SwedLit” project in
2013,” the Lithuanian Speaker of the Seimas stated.
Latvian leaders unanimously
suggested considering this issue during next negotiations as the electricity
supply question could not be delayed anymore.
“We are for
the joint energy network of the Baltic region. The most important is not
the country where the link should be laid but that the project is implemented
as quickly, cheaply and usefully as possible,” Head of the Saeima Mr. Daudze
said.
The Latvian Prime Minister
described the current economic situation of the country. Mr. Godmanis, who is now called the “Prime Minister of Crises”,
admitted that Latvia is forced to undertake stricter saving and tax collection
measures than those laid down in Lithuania’s plans.
“Many global processes reach
Latvia earlier than Lithuania, thus, by sharing experience, we may avoid
certain painful solutions which our neighbour is forced to adopt now. When drawing up the anti-crisis plan, the
governing coalition took Latvia’s case into consideration,” Mr. Valinskas
noted.
During his meeting with the
Latvian President, the Seimas Speaker discussed the issues of security and
cooperation of the Baltic states.
“We have a lot in common with
Latvia. We have a common history and
two living unique Baltic languages. Therefore,
I do hope that our frequent meetings with Latvian leaders of the state will
help us to find solutions, shoulder to shoulder heading in the same direction. Crises start and end, but we will always
remain brothers,” Mr. Valinskas summarised his meetings with Latvian heads of
the state.
Spokesperson
to the Seimas Speaker Indrė Viržintė
