News

On 23 September, in the meeting of the European Union (EU) foreign ministers with Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis drew attention of his Russian counterpart to accusations of financing terrorism against Lithuania, spread by the Russian mass media. “Such groundless accusations are totally unacceptable and do not contribute to constructive cooperation, including the fight against terrorism,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister noted. Antanas Valionis also reminded his EU and Russian colleagues that transit of passengers to the Kaliningrad region went smoother than many had expected and that the cargo transit even increased by 10 percent last year. “Thus we cannot speak of any obstacles to the Kaliningrad transit. The transit is far more limited by infrastructure capacity that should be developed, particularly in the Russian side. Lithuania has always been and will be ready to solve any arising problems in the general context of transit through the EU territory,” Minister Valionis said. The ministers of foreign affairs discussed the EU-Russian cooperation in the common neighbourhood, firstly in solving conflicts in Moldova and Georgia. At the meeting, the need to cooperate more intensely in the fight against terrorism was mentioned.