Necessary cookies

On

Statistics cookies

OnOff

A
A
A
For disabled
Previous legislatures

Representatives of the Seimas Committees on Foreign Affairs and on National Security and Defence and their Czech counterparts highlighted the importance of joint action of Central and Eastern European countries

Press release, 27 May 2022

The delegation of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, headed by Marek Ženíšek, Chairman of the Committee, is on a visit to Lithuania. Yesterday, on 26 May 2022, the delegation met with the chairs and members of the Seimas Committees on Foreign Affairs and on National Security and Defence. The discussion centred on the most important geopolitical matters and the most significant items on the EU agenda.

Laima Liucija Andrikienė, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, thanked the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Czech Chamber of Deputies for its resolution of 19 May 2022 calling on the Czech Government to withdraw from the 16+1 format. The Czechs, like the Lithuanians, explicitly note that this format has failed to bring any significant benefits to the participating countries of Central and Eastern Europe and has served more as a tool for promoting unilateral interests of China. Mr Ženíšek pointed out that the Czech Committee had adopted the resolution unanimously and had underlined Lithuania’s position therein. The Czechs also adopted the resolution on Taiwan’s integration into international organisations.

Laurynas Kasčiūnas, Chair of the Committee on National Security and Defence, briefed the Czech delegation on the aspirations to strengthen NATO’s defence and deterrence posture as well as to establish the principle of forward presence in NATO’s eastern flank.

The participants of the meeting emphasised the importance of mobilising and uniting the forces of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe by taking a much more active role than hitherto, because this would contribute not only to defending their views in the EU and NATO more successfully, but also to generating new ideas. The participants agreed on the need to grant the status of EU candidate country to Ukraine as soon as possible and achieve this by dispelling the unnamed fears that cause concern in some states and hinder the process.

Photos by Olga Posaškova, Office of the Seimas

 

During the meeting, the situation in the neighbouring Belarus was discussed as well. According to Mr Kasčiūnas, Belarus governed by the Lukashenko regime is a de facto non-existent state absorbed by Russia. Therefore, almost 700 kilometres of Lithuania’s border with Belarus have actually turned into a border with the Russian Federation. Žygimantas Pavilionis, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, noted that a large number of opposition members fleeing the Lukashenko regime, including the opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, had been granted asylum in Lithuania and that Lithuania had supported and would continue to support the democratic opposition in Belarus.

After the meeting with the Members of the Seimas, the delegation of the Czech Chamber of Deputies departed for Rukla, Jonava District, where Czech soldiers are serving as part of the NATO Forward Presence Battle Group.

 

For more information, please contact:

Eglė Maželė, Adviser, Office of the Committee on Foreign Affairs,

Office of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, tel. +370 5 239 6835, e-mail: [email protected]

 

 

   Last updated on 05/27/2022 15:39
   Rimas Rudaitis