News

On 16 December, the first day of his official visit to Israel, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas met with Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman. During the meeting, the Ministers discussed issues of bilateral political, economic and cultural cooperation, the development of relations between the European Union and Israel and dedicated a lot of attention to the Middle East Peace Process.

When speaking about bilateral cooperation, Minister V.Ušackas noted that Lithuania and Israel had special relations, which were determined by the six hundred years of history shared by the two nations. It is impossible to imagine the Lithuanian culture and history without great contribution of the Jewish community.

“Today we wish to restore and bring back the Jerusalem of the North – the Jewish Vilnius - to Lithuania, as well as the world,” the head of Lithuania’s diplomacy said.

Ministers V.Ušackas and A.Liberman stressed that a qualitatively new stage had been achieved on the agenda of bilateral relations between Lithuania and Israel, a regular and active political dialogue was going on. The volume of investments and trade has grown during the recent few years. However, it is too small for the countries that share so many things in common.

According to Minister V.Ušackas, there is a need to deepen bilateral cooperation in the area of culture and education, to better the understanding of culture and traditions of both nations, and to develop the dialogue between the societies of these countries.

Minister V.Ušackas said that Lithuania supported the deepening of the EU-Israel relations and invited to develop the cooperation not only in the areas of bilateral interests, but also with the aim to make progress in the Middle East Peace Process.

The head of Lithuania’s diplomacy voiced a common EU position on the Middle East Peace Process that aims at a two-state solution with Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace in the future. The Minister invited both parties to resume negotiations as soon as possible in order to ensure peace and stability in the region. Lithuania understands Israel’s concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear programme and supports international efforts to build peace and stability in the region.

Minister V.Ušackas invited Israel’s Foreign Minister A.Liberman to pay a visit to Lithuania.