LITHUANIA CAN SUCCEED AS EU COUNCIL PRESIDENT IF THE PUBLIC IS UNITED, SAYS LITHUANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER
Lithuania can succeed as EU Council President if the public is united and engaged in the face of this test of the state’s capacity, Lithuanian foreign minister Audronius Ažubalis said, speaking alongside the winner of the public competition to create the logo for the EU Presidency in 2013.
Minister Ažubalis presented the award to Simona Mykolaitytė and the 29 runners-up in the contest that was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the news portal Delfi. The winning idea will be developed into the presidency logo next year.“Your with the process attests that the Lithuanian people care about foreign policy and that the public are aware of how important the EU presidency is and are ready to take part in preparations for this test of the state’s capacity,” said Mr. Ažubalis.
The minister stressed that the feedback at home and abroad is also very positive about the logos of other recent Lithuanian chairmanships in international organizations such as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Community of Democracies.
In accordance with the EU tradition, the logo of the Lithuanian presidency will be unveiled in the run-up to its start in July 2013.
The five-week competition received over five hundred entries. It generated 130.000 page views and 34.000 votes that yielded the shortlist of 30 entries which was then reviewed by a commission of design and media professionals and representatives of Government.