News

On 30 March in Washington, D.C., the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius met with the CEOs and Director of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, who briefed him about their decision to extend the U.S. funding for radio broadcasts from Lithuania to the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood and Russia.

These programs have been broadcast by Sitkūnai Radio Station since 2000.

The United States of America has also decided to give the Government of Lithuania a 200 kW transmitter as a present. The new modern transmitter will allow to intensify Western countries' efforts to inform and to fight against Russia’s propaganda in the region, as well as to step up communication in Russia, Ukraine and other countries in the region. The current transmitter in Sitkūnai that has now been in operation for several decades has a capacity of 75 kW.

In the conversations with the Chief Executive Officer of the Broadcasting Board of Governors John Lansing and his counterparts, Linkevičius discussed the possibility of strengthening the resilience of societies in Eastern and Central Europe to propaganda from Russia’s state-owned media outlets.

Lithuania’s Foreign Minister also met with the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland. In the meeting, the officials highlighted the importance of the forthcoming NATO Summit and the determination of Lithuania and the U.S. to pursue ambitious decisions on the Alliance’s adaptation to a changed security environment for the future.

Lithuania’s Foreign Minister and Nuland discussed threats facing our region and security measures, allied support and actions in this field. Nuland briefed Linkevičius about the outcomes of the visit of the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to Moscow. The officials exchanged views on the situation in eastern Ukraine. Lithuania’s Foreign Minister stressed the importance of transatlantic coordination, while maintaining a principled position on Russia.

In Washington, D.C., Lithuania’s Foreign Minister also participated in a round table discussion at the Center for New American Security (CNAS) with the U.S. security experts, discussed hybrid threats facing our region and the upcoming NATO Summit. The experts highlighted Lithuania’s important role in strengthening democracy in Eastern Europe and the Euro-Atlantic security.

Lithuania’s Foreign Minister also discussed security challenges and the importance of increasing the U.S. military presence in Europe with Anna Makanju, Special Advisor to the Vice President Joe Biden and James J. Townsend (Jim), Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy.