28 February
During the meeting Speaker of the Seimas Arūnas Valinskas and President of
the German Bundestag Norbet Lammert discussed
the most relevant issues of bilateral cooperation.
Speaker of the Parliament pointed out that this year Lithuania will mark
already fifth anniversary of its membership in the EU and NATO; and Lithuania
and Germany are allies and partners that develop an active and constructive
bilateral cooperation at all levels, namely, at a parliamentary, other public
institutions and non-governmental level.
Arūnas Valinskas emphasised that Lithuania welcomes direct investments not
only from the largest but also from small and medium German companies.
The Speaker of the Seimas paid attention to the energy sector and
highlighted that the creation of a well integrated internal energy market of
the European Union is the key priority.
The electricity link between Lithuania, Poland and Germany, which is
included into the list of priority energy projects and has a designated EU
co-ordinator, is a particularly important strategic element allowing the
integration of the Baltic countries into the common EU electricity network,
Head of the Seimas said.
Speaking about the plans to build a new nuclear power plant in Lithuania,
Arūnas Valinskas noted that the potential of renewable energy source is not
fully exploited; therefore, Lithuania would be interested in a closer
cooperation with Germany in this sphere.
The Speaker of the Seimas expressed his concern over the impact of the gas
pipeline project Nord Stream on the ecosystem of the Baltic Sea. Moreover, in
the view of Arūnas Valinskas, this project would not solve the fundamental EU
energy security problem, as it does create conditions for the diversification
of the supply of energy resources.
The President of the German Bundestag agreed that the relations between
Lithuania and Germany have traditionally been close and that in the future they
should be intensified to a yet larger extent. Mr. Lamert took a particular
interest in the events of Vilnius European Capital of Culture 2009 and gladly accepted the invititation
of the Speaker of the Seimas to visit them.
Indrė Viržintė, Spokesperson of the Seimas
Speaker
