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At the General Affairs Council meeting on 17 March in Brussels, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius, emphasised the importance of a unified and strong EU policy stance towards Russia. “Russia has openly admitted it has annexed Crimea. Russia fails to comply substantially with the Minsk agreements. For these reasons, the EU should keep up the pressure on Russia. We have to extend the existing sanctions and consider new sanctions if the situation keeps deteriorating,” stressed the Lithuanian Foreign Minister.

Linkevičius said that  EU strategic communication needs to be strengthened  as a necessary step to counter information security threats and promoting EU values. He noted that the EU must remain ambitious – support the Eastern Partnership countries and respect their European aspirations. Linkevičius also stressed the importance of synchronization of Baltic electricity grids with Continental Europe Networks.

“We have to create a fully functioning European Energy Union. It can only be achieved after the Baltic States reduce their energy dependence on Russia. We need to synchronize our electricity grids with Continental Europe Networks, which will allow internal electricity market to function in the EU,” stressed the Lithuanian Foreign Minister.

The press release on the results of the General Affairs Council:

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/gac/2015/03/17/