News

The chief of Lithuanian diplomacy Antanas Valionis attended a meeting of foreign ministers of member and candidate states of the European Union, which was held on 18 November in Brussels. Foreign Minister Valionis described the results of the meeting as positive. "The key issues have been discussed. We have grounds to believe that Lithuanian requests for financing the closure of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plan and increasing agricultural quotas will be taken into consideration. We will seek to reach the final agreement on this by December," the Lithuanian foreign minister stated after the meeting. The agenda of the meeting included outstanding issues common to all the candidate countries, such as agriculture and principles of budget and finance. Minister Valionis noted that there still was some room for a compromise. "However, it is important that the results of negotiations should be comprehensive not only to diplomats, but also acceptable to the Lithuanian society. The end of negotiations means the beginning of the referendum campaign. Both of these processes must be beneficial to Lithuania," the chief of Lithuanian diplomacy noted. At the meeting in Brussels, the Foreign Minister presented a specific issue of Lithuania’s negotiations with the EU - the financing of the closure of the Ignalina NPP. Currently, Lithuania and the European Union hold talks on the scope of the funding for the closure of the NPP and the categories of costs. According to Minister Valionis, Lithuania will seek that an agreement on this issue should be included into a special protocol of the Accession Treaty, which will become the basis for a long term financing programme of the closure of the Ignalina NPP. During his visit in Brussels, the Lithuanian foreign minister also met with Commissioner for EU External Relations Christopher Patten to discuss the issue of the Kaliningrad Region and transit to and from it. At the meeting with Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Tassos Giannitsis, Minister Valionis discussed the forthcoming presidency of Greece over the European Union and the prospects of concluding the Accession Treaty, which is due to be signed in spring 2003.