News

On 12 April in Vilnius, the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius and the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs Villy Søvndal discussed important issues of bilateral and regional cooperation, Lithuania’s run-up to the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and other issues on the international agenda.

When presenting the priorities of the Presidency of the EU Council, Linkevičius pointed out that one of the most important events of Lithuania’s Presidency - the Eastern Partnership Summit - would be held in Vilnius on November 28 and 29, and that the Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt was expected to attend the event. The Lithuanian Foreign Minister noted that this meeting should draw up guidelines for future Eastern Partnership policy.

Søvndal expressed support for the priorities of Lithuania’s Presidency of the EU Council.

Linkevičius stressed the close cooperation between Lithuania and Denmark within international organizations and thanked for the country’s support to Lithuania regarding the enlargement of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

During the meeting, the Ministers noted the importance of the Nordic and Baltic cooperation for the achievement of common goals – deeper European integration and EU foreign policy geared to results. Denmark will coordinate the Nordic Baltic Eight (NB8) activities in 2015, and Estonia will take over the coordination of the NB8 agenda from Sweden next year.

The Foreign Ministers discussed projects to end the isolation of the Baltic States, which still form an energy island; they welcomed the creation of the energy market in the Baltic Sea Region. The Foreign Ministers exchanged views on cooperation in international forums to strengthen nuclear safety while expressing Lithuanian’s concerns about the development of the unsafe nuclear power plant projects in the Kaliningrad Region and Belarus.

On 1 January, Denmark celebrated 40 years of EU membership. During this period, Denmark has held the EU Presidency seven times. The last time was in the first half of 2012.

In 2012 the Lithuanian-Danish trade turnover increased by 8.7 per cent, as compared with 2011. Denmark was the sixth-largest foreign direct investor in Lithuania.

Denmark was the second country to acknowledge Lithuania’s independence and the first NATO country, which concluded a bilateral agreement on military cooperation with Lithuania (1994). In the same year, Denmark signed an agreement with Lithuania on the abolition of visas. The Danish troops are guarding the Baltic airspace for the fourth time. The resolve to participate in this NATO mission also in the future is being declared.