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On 18 September during the EU-Central Asia Ministerial Forum on security issues in Paris, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Petras Vaitiekūnas indicated that Lithuania actively supported the strengthening of the EU energy policy. ‘The potential of the Central Asian region is not being used enough, when we speak about the diversification  of energy supplies to the EU,’ said head of Lithuanian diplomacy. Issues of energy security, fight against terrorism and extremism, non-proliferation of weapons, combating human and drug trafficking were discussed in the Forum.

Participants of the Forum – Foreign Ministers of the EU Member States and countries of the Central Asian region, also representatives from the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other international organisations – laid down priority areas for cooperation between the EU and Central Asian countries in the joint declaration.

It is stated in the declaration that the tasks will be to strengthen the cooperation in energy and the environment, also to enhance cooperation in renewable and alternative energies.

Participants of the Forum noted that they would strengthen political dialogue in all its forms, would seek to guarantee security and stability in the Central Asian region, would  step up the fight against terrorism, as well as would develop cooperation between Central Asia and the European Union in rebuilding Afghanistan and stabilising its situation.

The declaration also involves a provision that the participants agreed on joining forces to fight arms trafficking, illicit trade in sensitive materials, narcotics and human beings. Participants of the Forum welcomed the creation of the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia.

The Forum was organised upon the initiative of the French EU Presidency.