News

On 6 May, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas met with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain Miguel Ángel Moratinos.

During the meeting, the Ministers stressed that bilateral relations between the countries were good and positions of Lithuania and Spain were similar on many issues of the European Union and NATO.

Vilnius and Madrid will aim at continuing to intensify bilateral relations. The Foreign Ministers of Lithuania and Spain agreed to strengthen cooperation in the spheres of the EU and security policy, as well as to organize annual meetings of Ministers of Foreign Affairs.

The Ministers discussed future EU Presidencies of both countries – Spain will hold the EU Presidency during the first half of 2010 and Lithuania will be in charge of the EU Presidency during the second half of 2013.

Minister V.Ušackas assured the head of Spain’s diplomacy that Lithuania would support Spain’s priorities of the EU Presidency. The Foreign Minister of Spain asked Lithuania to share its experience in the spheres of the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood policy and the EU-Russia relations.

While speaking about the EU Neighbourhood policy, Minister V.Ušackas confirmed that Lithuania actively supported the Eastern Neighbourhood.

“The Eastern Partnership initiative will create a firm basis for deeper cooperation of the EU member states with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, will allow for the implementation of reforms in democratic governance and market economy, will contribute to guaranteeing security and stability in the region,” said Minister V.Ušackas.               

The Ministers also agreed to share the experience of the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Spain chaired this organisation in 2007.

“As Lithuania is getting ready for the OSCE chairmanship in 2011 and the EU Presidency in 2013, it is especially important to learn from Spain’s experience concerning the Middle East, the Mediterranean Sea region and Latin America,” said Minister V.Ušackas.  

Minister V.Ušackas thanked Spain for its support to the European Humanities University based in Vilnius and expressed hope that Spain would remain in the list of donors in the future.

The Foreign Ministers of Spain and Lithuania welcomed the decision of the Czech Senate to ratify the European Union’s Treaty of Lisbon on 6 May.