News

On 23 May, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Andrius Krivas took part in the Eastern Partnership Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Brussels, during which Foreign Ministers reasserted the importance of the Eastern Partnership as the EU’s ambitious policy.

Krivas called for immediately granting visa-free regime to Georgia and Ukraine, as these countries had done their homework. According to Lithuania’s Foreign Vice-Minister, this will strengthen ties between citizens of the EU and the partner countries, economic relations, academic and youth exchanges.

Krivas drew attention to the importance of strategic communication and stressed that the EU and its member states must provide support and make every effort in order to strengthen their partner countries’ resilience to internal and external threats. “The security situation in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood is directly linked to stability, economic well-being and democratic processes in the whole region; therefore, the EU must become more actively engaged in the process of resolving conflicts in the neighbourhood, achieve full implementation of the Minsk agreements, and remain committed to fully implement its non-recognition policy of the illegal annexation of Crimea,” said Lithuania’s representative.

Lithuania’s Foreign Vice-Minister also stressed the importance of ensuring nuclear safety in the EU’s neighbour countries and called on Belarus to cooperate constructively in this field with international institutions.

When recognizing the need to maintain the format that brings together the six partner countries and to continue strengthening the platform for multilateral cooperation, the Foreign Ministers called for closer cooperation with the associated countries – Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine – in providing political support and assistance for the implementation of their Association Agreements (AA/DCFTA).

Photos/The Council of the European Union: Krivas and the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Charles Flanagan (right).