News

On 25-27 January, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius is to pay a working visit to Santiago, Chile, where he will attend the Summit of the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños, CELAC), the EU-CELAC Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting and bilateral meetings with Foreign Ministers of Latin American and Caribbean states.

This will be the seventh summit of the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean, since the founding Summit (1999) and the first summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the European Union (EU). The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) is a new regional bloc of 33 Latin American and Caribbean states. It was formally established in 2010.

Chile will host the first summit under the theme “Alliance for Sustainable Development: Promoting Investments of Social and Environmental Quality”. This topic covers economic, social and environmental aspects of interregional cooperation.

The EU-CELAC cooperation is based on belief that this partnership is mutually beneficial, because closely linked countries have lots of common interests in the modern world. It is expected that the meeting will strengthen the strategic partnership at the interregional level, will give a fresh impetus to the cooperation and will help to find common approach to global issues and common challenges.

Prior to the summit on 25 January, the Minister will attend the EU-CELAC Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting under the theme “Working together towards growth and stability”. Linkevičius will also hold bilateral meetings with his Latin American and Caribbean counterparts.