On Wednesday, 17 July 2013, Petras Auštrevičius, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas and Deputy Chair of the Committee on European Affairs, met with the delegation of the State Diet (Landtag) of Saxony-Anhalt and Norbert Beckmann-Dierkes, Head of the Baltic Office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.

Members of the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt and the Working Group on Home Affairs, Europe and the Media were interested in the priorities of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Lithuania’s aspirations to join the euro area and its attitude towards the crisis in Southern Europe.

Mr Auštrevičius presented the priorities of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council. He said that the priorities should be clear and familiar to Germany.

The meeting focussed on the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region where Germany, as one of the Baltic Sea states, is engaged. According to Mr Auštrevičius, this is the first macroeconomic strategy in Europe aiming at environment, transport, infrastructure and tourism. German Members of the State Diet observed that with the help of joint efforts, eight EU Member States from the Baltic Sea Region could make a considerable influence on all the policies of the European Union.      

Justė Radzevičiūtė-Laugalienė, Public Relations Unit, tel. +370 5 239 6210, e-mail: [email protected]