Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis: Lithuania and the Netherlands are like-minded countries with similar views on many items on the EU agenda
Created 2021-01-25
On 25 January in Brussels, Belgium, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis met with the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Stef Blok. The meeting focused on the human rights situation in Russia, Belarus, and China, the Eastern Partnership initiative, and the implementation of the rule of law. The Foreign Ministers welcomed the fact that Lithuania and the Netherlands were very like-minded countries with similar views on many items on the European agenda, and foreign and security policy.
Landsbergis thanked the Netherlands for taking the leadership role in creating the EU’s global human rights sanctions regime and expressed his wish to cooperate more intensively on the practical implementation of this important EU instrument.
"The arbitrary detention of Alexei Navalny could serve as a good example of practical application of the sanctions regime. We must all exert pressure on Russia together and demand the immediate release of Alexei Navalny," said the Foreign Minister. Landsbergis also believes that the Netherlands will continue to play an active role in implementing the principle of the rule of law not only in the EU and its neighbouring countries, but also globally.
The Foreign Ministers agreed that, in the EU’s relations with third countries, it was important to unitedly comply with the principled requirements to respect human rights and the rule of law, and to try to strike a balance between the economic and commercial interests of the EU member states.
The Ministers also discussed the Eastern Partnership initiative and agreed on the need to strengthen it, especially in the run-up to the 2021 Eastern Partnership Summit. Blok also invited Landsbergis to visit the Netherlands in the near future.
"The arbitrary detention of Alexei Navalny could serve as a good example of practical application of the sanctions regime. We must all exert pressure on Russia together and demand the immediate release of Alexei Navalny," said the Foreign Minister. Landsbergis also believes that the Netherlands will continue to play an active role in implementing the principle of the rule of law not only in the EU and its neighbouring countries, but also globally.
The Foreign Ministers agreed that, in the EU’s relations with third countries, it was important to unitedly comply with the principled requirements to respect human rights and the rule of law, and to try to strike a balance between the economic and commercial interests of the EU member states.
The Ministers also discussed the Eastern Partnership initiative and agreed on the need to strengthen it, especially in the run-up to the 2021 Eastern Partnership Summit. Blok also invited Landsbergis to visit the Netherlands in the near future.
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