News

On 24 June in Vilnius, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Petras Vaitiekūnas and Minister for European Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Frans Timmermans discussed important items of the Euro-Atlantic agenda and issues of bilateral relations.

Minister P.Vaitiekūnas acquainted Minister F.Timmermans with the issues of energy security and highlighted the situation, which would be in the country after closing of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. These issues are important for Lithuania.

The Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister for European Affairs of the Netherlands stressed the significance of solidarity of the European Union Member States in the area of energy security. F.Timmermans assured that the Netherlands understood the Lithuanian concerns and suggested that Lithuania makes use of the expertise of the Netherlands in the area of the electricity and gas interconnections.

Minister F.Timmermans indicated that the Netherlands wаs interested to promote its investments into Lithuania. Head of the Lithuanian diplomacy invited Dutch businessmen to reap better benefit from possibilities of the Lithuanian transport sector.

P.Vaitiekūnas also acquainted the Minister for European Affairs of the Netherlands with Lithuania’s input into the restoration of stability in Afghanistan. The Ministers indicated that the NATO forces were playing an especially important role in this area.

Speaking about the European Neighbourhood Policy, Ministers P.Vaitiekūnas and F.Timmermans emphasized that it was necessary to support the efforts of Ukraine and Georgia on their Euro-Atlantic path.

During the meeting, results of the Irish referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon, regional cooperation among the Baltic States and the Benelux countries in the European Union and the issues of relations with Belarus were also discussed. 

On 24-26 June, the Minister for European Affairs of the Netherlands is accompanying Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands on her state visit to Lithuania.