News

On 7 August in Washington Lithuanian Ministers of Foreign Affairs and National Defence Petras Vaitiekūnas and Juozas Olekas during the meeting with Deputy Secretary of State of the United States John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried discussed important issues of international security policy. During the meetings in the Department of State, the ministers assured the interlocutors that Lithuania would continue to contribute to the global fight against terrorism by extending its military participation in the Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as increasing its input into the NATO operation in Afghanistan.

J.Negroponte stressed that Lithuania was a highly esteemed USA ally. Lithuania and the Baltic region, according to him, have always received and will continue to receive special attention from Washington. The USA will support Lithuania’s aspiration and its initiatives in the areas important to Lithuania as much as the USA can.

During the meetings other issues of international and regional security that are important for the two countries were also discussed: the future of Kosovo, Lithuania’s ambition to preside over the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the upcoming NATO Summit in Bucharest, the airspace protection in the Baltic States and the USA missile defence plans. During the conversations, Lithuanian and US officials also exchanged their opinions on closer cooperation between the USA and European countries in the field of energy security, discussed the situation in the EU and NATO Eastern neighbourhood.

Lithuanian ministers also indicated to the representatives of the USA that the inclusion  of Lithuania into the Visa Waiver Program would be an especially important step forward in strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries.

During the meetings, the incident of 6 August in Georgia was also discussed. The representatives of Lithuania emphasized that such incidents were a matter of concern, as they demonstrated that the existing mechanisms for peace-keeping were insufficient. Besides, Lithuanian ministers commended the calmness and restraint with which the Georgian government faced this incident.

The ministers also visited the US Missile Defence Agency and together with the representatives of the US non-governmental organizations took part in a working dinner that was organized by the leader of the project of the New American Century Bruce Jackson.

On 8 August the ministers will discuss issues of international security with Deputy Secretary of Defence Gordon England.