Ministers van Buitenlandse Zaken van Litouwen en VS bespreken Oostelijk partnerschap (en)

On 7 September in Vilnius, the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius met with the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. During the bilateral meeting, heads of the Lithuanian and U.S. diplomacy discussed the situation in Syria, the EU-U.S. free trade agreement, the situation of democracy in the Eastern neighbourhood countries, and items on the Lithuanian EU Presidency’s agenda.

L.Linkevičius welcomed the strategic partnership with the U.S. and successful cooperation in the areas of security, trade, and democracy promotion.

“I am pleased to welcome you to Vilnius. Your visit to Lithuania as the country that holds the Presidency of the EU Council, as well as consultations with European counterparts, show that our transatlantic ties remain strong. The recent meeting of the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė i and other heads of the Baltic States with Barack Obama i in Washington, D.C., has brought our countries even closer together, while the joint statement issued after the meeting has provided guidelines to further strengthen the Lithuania-U.S. strategic partnership,” L.Linkevičius said.

Speaking about the EU’s Eastern Partnership programme, the Foreign Minister stressed the need to work together to strengthen cooperation with Eastern neighbours and thanked for strong support to the Eastern partnership countries.

“We believe that further EU and Euro-Atlantic integration is an important condition to ensure stability and economic welfare at home and in the Eastern partnership countries,” L.Linkevičius said.

During the meeting, L.Linkevičius and J.Kerry also stressed the significance of the transatlantic trade and partnership. The sides agreed that the signing of the free trade agreement between the EU and the U.S. would be a very important achievement, which would strengthen economies and create millions of new jobs.