LITHUANIA URGES THE EUROPEAN UNION TO PAY MORE ATTENTION TO INSTABILITY PREVENTION
During the European Union Informal Council of Development Ministers, which convened on 21 September in Madeira, Portugal, Undersecretary of Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Laimonas Talat-Kelpša drew the attention of his colleagues to the fact that prevention continued to play a minor role of a “stepdaughter” in the EU policy for development cooperation. “Today we spend more money eliminating the consequences of instability, than we assign in order to avoid the instability as such, and this tendency is probably not changing in the nearest time,” emphasized the Lithuanian representative.
L.Talat-Kelpša attracted attention to the fact that Central Asia and South Caucasus were undeservedly left out of consideration in today’s development cooperation policy.
“The current EU visa policy for Georgia endangers stability in the region and should be changed,” indicated L.Talat-Kelpša.
The Undersecretary of Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited to organize a discussion of Development Ministers on Central Asia and Neighbourhood policy, seeking to evaluate the correlation between the existent tools of the EU policy and their effectiveness.
The main points on the agenda of the informal meeting of the EU Development Ministers are issues related to unstable countries.
This Informal Council on Development also deals with issues related to the EU’s Humanitarian Aid policy, the links of security and development cooperation, the European Partnership Agreements with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, as well as other issues.
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