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Lithuania’s strategic goal of becoming a full member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has finally gained a concrete perspective. On 30 May, the OECD Ministerial Council meeting announced its decision on the next phase of the enlargement of the organisation - Lithuania is among other four candidate countries invited to open accession talks. According to the decision of the Council and bearing in mind the internal capacity of the OECD, the enlargement process shall take some time. In 2013, the OECD plans to open talks with Colombia, later other countries mentioned in the document  - Latvia, Lithuania, and Costa Rica - should gradually join the process.

Lithuanian diplomats are glad that after complex negotiations the Member countries of the Organisation adopted a compromise decision. “We believe that by giving the green light for enlargement the Organisation has adhered to our common values and set an example of effective decision-making. This decision will serve as a reference point for further significant developments within the OECD,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius said.

Lithuania congratulates Latvia on the OECD’s invitation, and expresses belief that at this stage the opportunity to join the OECD will provide a fresh momentum for harmonious development of a Baltic economic space. “We would also like to take this occasion to thank our partners in Europe and friends of Lithuania within the OECD for their heartfelt support, which we received during the entire period of candidacy,” the head of the Lithuanian diplomacy said. He also noted that many Member countries of the Organisation had consistently advocated for inviting Lithuania and Latvia to open accession talks with the OECD.

After many years of purposeful work and patience, and thanks to the consensus reached by all institutions that allowed permanently focusing on the OECD membership as one of the country’s foreign policy priorities, Lithuania deserves to be invited to the prestigious club of high-income democracies.

The Lithuanian Foreign Minister expressed hope that after the term of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, as early as 2014, Lithuania would be able to start the technical procedure in preparation for accession talks with the OECD.