News

On 19 May, during the meeting with State Secretary for Political Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Croatia Davor Božinović, Lithuania’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Asta Skaisgirytė Liauškienė affirmed Lithuania’s support for Croatia’s goal to conclude the EU accession negotiations in the short run.

“Lithuania welcomes Croatia’s efforts aspiring to join the European Union and supports the country’s goal to conclude the EU accession negotiations in the short run,” Vice-Minister A.Skaisgirytė Liauškienė said, urging Croatia to continue to actively implement the reforms that the EU requires.

Croatia started the EU accession negotiations in October 2005. Croatia has opened the EU accession negotiations on 30 chapters, with 18 out of 35 chapters now provisionally closed.

During the meeting of Vice-Minister A.Skaisgirytė Liauškienė and D.Božinović, who is paying a visit to Vilnius, bilateral relations between Lithuania and Croatia, topical issues on the EU agenda, Lithuania’s chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2011 and the situation in the Western Balkan region were also discussed.

Croatia’s State Secretary for Political Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration is taking part in commemoratory round table event that is organized on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Vilnius Ten on 19 May in Vilnius.

Ten years ago, foreign ministers of then-NATO aspirant countries – Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia - met for the first time in Vilnius. During the meeting, ministers decided to jointly cooperate when pursuing the Euro-Atlantic integration goals. Later, when Croatia joined this group, it became known as the Vilnius Ten.