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Lithuania will do all in its power to make EU enlargement a success, thus contributing to one of the priorities set by Spain during its presidency of EU in the first half of 2002, said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis in a greeting letter to his Spanish counterpart. The chief of the Lithuanian diplomacy also expressed his gratitude to Belgium during whose presidency Lithuania made further success in EU accession negotiations. The Laeken Summit which concluded the Belgian presidency was of great importance to EU enlargement. In it, Lithuania was named a country which can be ready for EU accession by 2004. The declaration on the European future adopted in Laeken put forward the guidelines for further discussion on the Continent’s future. Foreign Minister and Head of the Lithuanian delegation at EU accession negotiations Antanas Valionis maintains that Spain has taken over the chairmanship of the EU at a very significant moment, when the euro started circulating in twelve EU states and the EU has to cope with such important issues as fight against terrorism. The year 2001 was very successful for Lithuania, as it made further steps towards EU accession and caught up with the aspirant countries, which had launched the negotiations two years prior to Lithuania. The first six months of 2002 with Spain chairing the EU is going to be particularly complex as the negotiations on such issues as regional policy, agriculture and energy will take place. “I’m convinced that all these issues are solvable”, stressed Minister Valionis. He also indicated that from the spring of 2002 Lithuania is going to actively join the Convention, a forum for the discussion of the reforms necessary for further EU development. “Apparently, we are to have a very interesting discussion and I hope that the countries taking part in it will come to a common position”, Foreign Minister pointed out.