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Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis attended a two-day informal meeting of foreign ministers of the European Union member states and acceding countries having started on September 5 in Riva Delgarda, Italy. During a debate at lunch, 25 ministers discussed a draft of European security strategy, presented by High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU Javier Solana. Over conversation about current threats to the modern Europe, Minister Valionis drew attention to differences on the European security map. He proposed paying more attention to traditional threats related to unpredictable authoritarian regimes. The Lithuanian Foreign Minister also stressed that while creating a common European security strategy Russia and its Kaliningrad Region must not be overlooked. The main subject of later meetings was preparation for the EU Intergovernmental Conference starting on October 4. According to Minister Valionis, Lithuania respects the compromise achieved at the European Convention, attended by a Lithuanian Government representative and two representatives of the Parliament Seimas. However the Minister did not believe that the Intergovernmental Conference should limit itself merely to a formal approval of the EU Constitutional Treaty drafted at the European Convention. „We will seek that the Intergovernmental Conference should make the articles of the Constitutional Treaty on the EU institutions more precise and concrete, the articles on security and defence policy should be improved too,“ the Minister stated. The principles of equality of member states, institutional balance and legitimate democracy would have to serve as basis for any agreements to be made, according to Minister Valionis. The Minister emphasised that Lithuania would support the proposal put forward by a number of states including Ireland, Spain and Poland mentioning the role of Christianity in shaping the European identity at the preamble of the Constitutional Treaty. The Lithuanian Foreign Minister also greeted the Summit of Baltic, Polish and Finnish Prime Ministers on infrastructure development successfully drawn to an end in Vilnius. The minister lauded the fact that diplomatic efforts to unite the states of region and to demonstrate common priorities with regard to energy and transport in the EU had brought concrete results.