News

On 8 October in Vilnius, Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Asta Skaisgirytė Liauškienė met with the new Ambassador of Belgium to Lithuania Peter Lescouhier and discussed with him possibilities to expand bilateral cooperation.

 Skaisgirytė Liauškienė stressed that bilateral relations between Lithuania and Belgium were successfully developing. The trade turnover between Lithuania and Belgium in the past year exceeded 3 billion Litas, while Belgian investment in Lithuania amounted to 200 million Litas.

The Vice-Minister drew attention to the beneficial cooperation between Lithuania and Belgian regions: Flanders and Wallonia. A new three-year cooperation agreement between Lithuania and Flanders will be signed this year.

Skaisgirytė Liauškienė informed the Ambassador about Lithuania’s Presidency of the EU Council in the second half of 2013 and presented the priorities of the presidency. She also stressed that Belgium’s successful 12th Presidency of the EU Council in the second half of 2010 set an inspiring example for Lithuania, as the country would carry out these duties for the first time.

The meeting discussed prospects for closer cooperation in multilateral forums, highlighted the benefit of the regional Baltic-Benelux cooperation initiative, in which both countries were actively engaged.

Belgium recognised Lithuania on 27 December 1922. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were re-established on 5 September 1991. Lescouhier is the sixth Belgian Ambassador who resides in Vilnius.