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Summing up his working visit in Athens, Deputy Foreign Minister Rytis Martikonis noted "that there are all the preconditions for Lithuania to finish EU accession negotiations this year and sign the EU accession treaty at the beginning of next year during Greek EU Presidency". On 26 April Deputy Foreign Minister Martikonis met with Greek European Affairs Minister Tassos Giannitsis, high-ranking MFA officials and representatives of Greece at the Convention on EU Future. "We discussed with Greek officials cooperation in the Baltic Sea region and relevant issues of the region, which are important on the European and even global level", stated Martikonis. According to Deputy Minister, "it has been agreed with Greek officials that it will be very important in the enlarged EU to maintain good neighbourhood with the countries bordering the EU member states, which may be different for Lithuania and Greece, but the principles and the interests are the same". "The role of Greece as a factor of regional stability is important here", the Deputy Minister pointed out. According to Rytis Martikonis, being a small country Greece serves as a good example of an influential participant in the EU domestic and foreign policies. Referring to Lithuania's negotiations on the accession to the EU, the representatives of both countries discussed the issues of agriculture, structural funds, decommissioning of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant and its financing. Martikonis, who is a representative of the Lithuanian Government at the Convention on the future of the EU, expressed his satisfaction that both countries believe that the principal of solidarity as one of the major principles of the EU policy and the cohesion as one of the most rewarding policy fields should remain operational in the enlarged EU. The Greek officials informed the Lithuanian delegation that a friendship group with Lithuania was recently established in the Greek Parliament.