2010 

12 May 2010

Mrs Irena Degutienė, Speaker of the Seimas, met with Mr Aivis Ronis, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, during his visit to Vilnius. The meeting with the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of the neighbouring country focused on closer cooperation between Latvia and Lithuania in NATO and the European Union, reinforcement of relations with the Nordic countries, and EU-Russia relations.

 

The Speaker of the Seimas noted that Lithuania aims at strengthening the Baltic-Nordic parliamentary cooperation, which is why NB8 parliamentary speakers are expected to meet on a number of occasions and come up with joint initiatives in the coming days and weeks. “Apart from covering the key issues in foreign and security policy, such as the NATO’s New Strategic Concept, relations with Russia, and Eastern Partnership Initiative, the coming meetings and particularly the joint speakers’ visit to the United States of America are going to centre on exploring new business opportunities in the Baltic and Nordic region that could prove attractive to the United States”, Mrs Degutienė stated.

 
According to the head of the Lithuanian Parliament, the EU-Russia relations involve a recently initiated dialogue on modernization of the partnership, yet the understanding of the concept of modernization differs widely among interlocutors. “It is clear that Russia puts an emphasis on technology, transfer of innovation, and economic modernization. Meanwhile the European Union advocates a more profound modernization underpinned by structural policy reform, implementation of the rule of law, and development of the civil society”, Mrs Degutienė noted.

 

Closer cooperation, consultation, and coordination of positions between the Baltic countries are the preconditions for making our voice heard, according to the Speaker of the Seimas. “We are too small to take individual positions on issues of mutual concern”, Mrs Degutienė emphasised.  “The results as regards resolution of our problems and concerns will depend on the quality of our cooperation.”

Juozas Ruzgys

Spokesperson to the Speaker of the Seimas