Speaker of the Seimas: “Special attention of the US to the Baltic region translates into overall strategic partnership and guarantees our security”

Press release, 29 December 2016

Photos of the Office of the Seimas (author Olga Posaškova) 

 

On Thursday, 29 December 2016, Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Seimas, met with the delegation of the United States Congress led by Republican Senator John McCain.

“Your special attention to the region and your assessment of emerging threats is particularly important for us today. Lithuania is firmly committed to increasing its defence spending. We are reliable partners, willing to work together to ensure security for all NATO countries. The US focus on the Baltic region translates into overall strategic partnership and guarantees our security,” the Speaker of the Seimas said.

 

 

The meeting had a strong focus on nuclear security and issues related to the construction of a nuclear power plant in Belarus. It also covered the economic cooperation between Lithuania and the US and Lithuania’s energy security.

At one of its first sittings, the newly elected Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania adopted the Resolution on the Strategic Partnership between the Republic of Lithuania and the United States of America. The Resolution reaffirms Lithuania’s commitment to NATO and the strategic partnership with the US, while stressing that Lithuania has always been and will remain a reliable partner of the US in Europe and in the Baltic Sea Region. The newly elected Seimas has also set up a Group for Inter-Parliamentary Relations with the United States of America. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Lithuania and the United States.

“Lithuania and the US are united by solid friendship, defence of common values, and mutual respect and support. We highly appreciate that the US never officially recognised Lithuania’s occupation of 1940–1991 and that Lithuania’s diplomatic mission kept operating in Washington throughout those years,” the Speaker of the Seimas said.

 

 

Following the meeting with the Speaker of the Seimas, US senators and other members of the delegation visited the January 13 Memorial and met with volunteers and the general public.

Apart from Senator McCain, the US Congress delegation also included Senators Lindsey Graham and Amy Klobuchar. The meeting participants on the Lithuanian side were members of the Committees on European Affairs, on National Security and Defence, and on Foreign Affairs.

 

Dalia Vencevičienė, Senior Adviser to the Speaker of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6016, e-mail: [email protected]