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Lithuania and Poland should find ways how to strengthen the neighbourly dialogue between their societies, foster every day relations between the countries’ businesspeople, intellectuals, academicians and youth and expand cooperation between Lithuanian and Polish border regions. This was said by Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Antanas Valionis at the round table discussion Lithuania and Poland’s Strategic Partnership: New Tendencies and Challenges that took place on 6 May in Vilnius and was dedicated to the return of Lithuania and Poland to the common European space and the 10th anniversary of signing the Treaty between the Republic of Lithuania and the Republic of Poland on friendly relations and good neighbourly cooperation. “Is it true that Lithuania has not supported Poland in negotiations on the Treaty establishing Constitution for Europe? Did Poland really turn away from Lithuania in negotiations on the Kaliningrad transit? Why do the projects Via Baltica, Rail Baltica and building of the power bridge in Poland not move from the dead point? And why has Lithuania not found a decision concerning the spelling of the Polish surnames so far? All these questions do not indicate weakness of our partnership but point to the necessity of a new way of communication and new instruments to strengthen this partnership,” the Minister stated. In the pragmatic world of the European and Euro-Atlantic interests we rapidly loose the pleasure of neighbourly cooperation. “As if one visited the neighbour only running out of matches or salt,” the Minister added. He set four political tasks for the Lithuanian-Polish strategic partnership. According to Minister Valionis, it is necessary to strengthen Lithuania’s importance to Poland, as the stronger Lithuania’s economy will be, the wider network of relations in Northern Europe and the whole European Union the country will have - the more meaningful it will be for Poland. “In its turn, Poland’s political support and expanding institutional, economic and infrastructure ties strengthen Lithuania in the regional and European policy,” the Minister underlined. According to him, Poland’s role in the Baltic Sea Region should increase. “The approaching presidency over the Council of the Baltic Sea States reminds that Poland is also a Baltic Sea state. Cooperation with Lithuania should lead to wider Baltic and Baltic-Nordic formats and trigger Germany’s participation in the regional activities, Antanas Valionis pointed out. In his belief, it is necessary to draw attention towards the economic and social situation of the border regions from Alytus to Gdansk and discuss how it would be possible to improve it by jointly using local and EU funds. Furthermore, in the Minister’s opinion Lithuania and Poland should enrich the European Union with their philosophy of “irrational pragmatism”. “Possible membership of Ukraine and Belarus in the European Union, participation of the Kaliningrad region in the European Union spaces – why not? The things that today rasp the ear in Brussels, tomorrow may become a keynote of the European policy,” the Head of the Lithuanian MFA contemplated. According to him, Lithuania and Poland can propose the acquired experience in creating bilateral relations to the European Union, establishing relations with the “new” neighbours, as well as to preserve the common European values and to strengthen the European Union’s influence in the region and the world.