News

At the invitation of Gediminas Varvuolis, the Director of the Department of the Transatlantic Cooperation and Security Policy Department of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a meeting of directors of security policy of the Enhanced Partnership in Northern Europe (e-PINE) on 1 March in Vilnius focused on a wide variety of security policy issues.

Participants of the meeting discussed preparations for the NATO Summit in Chicago, the nuclear non-proliferation regime and perspectives of revitalizing conventional arms control in Europe, security and defence policy in the European Union, security measures to build trust and NATO’s defence and deterrence posture review.

The meeting was attended by directors of security policy from foreign ministries of Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and Finland, and by the U.S. Acting Under Secretary of State Rose E. Gottemoeller.

A separate meeting of the U.S. delegation and representatives from foreign ministries of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia also took place in Vilnius.

On 1 March, Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Evaldas Ignatavičius and the U.S. Acting Under Secretary of State Rose E. Gottemoeller discussed bilateral cooperation and issues on the transatlantic agenda.

The meeting addressed such issues as the Eastern neighbourhood, security and cooperation in Europe, preparations for upcoming Chicago Summit and NATO’s missile defence system.

During the conversation, Ignatavičius stressed the importance of the U.S. role in ensuring the regional security in Europe.

The e-PINE initiative was officially launched in 2003 in Washington. It is a cooperation mechanism for Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and the U.S.A. The initiative aims to enhance the cooperation of the United States with the Baltic and Nordic countries.

In 2012, Lithuania is coordinating the e-PINE activities.