News

During the ongoing session of the OSCE Ministerial Council on 7 December in Vilnius, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis held meetings with Australian, British and Macedonian ministers to discuss relevant issues of bilateral cooperation and foreign policy.

At the meeting with Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Kevin Rudd, A.Ažubalis stressed that Lithuania’s OSCE Chairmanship opened up new possibilities for the development of bilateral relations.

A.Ažubalis invited Australia to participate more actively in the OSCE activities next year. In 2009, Australia became an Asian Partner for Cooperation of the OSCE.

The meeting also discussed perspectives of the twenty-year long cooperation between the two countries in the economic, cultural and educational areas.

According to the Ministers, Lithuania and Australia together can do a lot for the sake of democracy in the world. At the meeting, interlocutors discussed development activities of both countries in Afghanistan.

At the meeting with British European Affairs Minister David Lidington, A.Ažubalis discussed possibilities to further develop his country’s increasingly active cooperation with the Nordic and Baltic States.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister stressed that the counties in the Nordic-Baltic region shared common values ​​and had similar opinions about many things; therefore, they should further more active cooperation not only on domestic, but also on foreign and fiscal policy, and on other issues.

During the conversation with his Macedonian counterpart Nikola Poposki, Lithuanian Foreign Minister proposed to intensify economic cooperation and informed N.Poposki about the ratification of the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement by the Lithuanian Seimas (Parliament) in November.

A.Ažubalis voiced Lithuania’s support for the aspiration of Macedonia to become an EU member state and encouraged the country to continue to implement all the necessary reforms.

The Minister noted that after the game of Macedonia’s team at the men’s European Basketball Championship, the country’s name became famous in Lithuania.