On 13 September in Vilnius, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Audronius Ažubalis met with Giampaolo di Paola, the Italian Minister of Defense, and thanked Italy for its decision to join NATO’s air policing mission in the Baltic countries.

“Italy’s experience of airspace protection in Slovenia and Albania will be very useful for the air policing mission in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia,” Ažubalis said.

The Ministers exchanged opinions on geopolitical landscape of Eastern neighbourhood countries and political situation in Europe. “Eastern Partnership is one of the most important priorities of Lithuania’s Presidency of the EU Council in 2013,” Ažubalis stressed.

They also discussed energy security issues, cooperation between the European Union and NATO in the field of security and relations with Russia.

Ažubalis thanked Italians for their contribution to international security. He reminded about the joint exercise of the Lithuanian troops and the Italian Alpine troops ten years ago and expressed hope that the countries would continue their successful cooperation thus contributing to the more secure and stable environment.