News

On 23 September, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Antanas Valionis, currently on visit in New York as a member of delegation led by Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus, met with the Foreign Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Antigua and Barbuda and Egypt in the framework of the UN General Assembly 59th Session. During the meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tourism, International Travels and Trade of Antigua and Barbuda Harold Lowell, diplomatic relations with this state were established. Antigua and Barbuda, a country situated on the Caribbean islands of Antigua, Barbuda and Redonda with less than 70 thousand inhabitants, is the 136th state, with which Lithuania has established diplomatic relations. The Minister of Antigua and Barbuda also told at the meeting that his country wanted to benefit from Lithuania’s experience in the area of human resource management. At the meeting with Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mladen Ivanic, Antanas Valionis discussed the prospects of bilateral and regional cooperation as well as the process of normalising situation in this country. Mladen Ivanic asked Lithuania to share its experience of cooperation with the European Union. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina also showed interest in Lithuania’s way to NATO and benefits of the Partnership for Peace initiative, which Sarajevo strives to join. Mladen Ivanic also expressed his satisfaction over activities of Lithuanian businessmen in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Ministers exchanged invitations to come to Lithuania and Bosnia and Herzegovina on official visits. During the meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Ali Aboul Gheit, a bilateral treaty of cultural cooperation was signed. Antanas Valionis underlined the aspiration of Lithuania to be elected to the UN Economic and Social Council in 2005-2007. The Egyptian Foreign Minister ensured Egypt’s voice for Lithuania in this election to take place in the end of October. After discussing the prospects of bilateral cooperation, Antanas Valionis invited Ahmed Ali Aboul Gheit to visit Lithuania.