News

During his official visit to Georgia, on 29 March in Tbilisi, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis met with President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, Chairman of the Parliament David Bakradze, Prime Minister Nika Gilauri, Minister of Foreign Affairs Grigol Vashadze, State Minister for Reintegration Temuri Yakobashvili and representatives from the parliamentary and non-parliamentary opposition. During the meetings, head of the Lithuanian diplomacy voiced Lithuania’s strong support for Georgia’s territorial integrity and Euro-Atlantic integration aspirations.

“Faces may change, rhetoric may change, but Lithuania’s support for fundamental values remains firm and immovable. We affirm this once again on this day, as Lithuania marks the sixth anniversary of its NATO membership,” Minister A.Ažubalis said.

Lithuanian and Georgian Foreign Ministers agreed to set up in the nearest future a bilateral Commission for European and Euro-Atlantic integration issues. The establishment of this body was outlined in the Lithuania-Georgia Partnership Charter, which was signed in April last year.

The Ministers discussed possibilities for cooperation in reconstructing Afghanistan. Minister G.Vashadze informed Minister A.Ažubalis about Georgia’s plans to strengthen the civilian component in the Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team in Ghor.

Lithuanian and Georgian Foreign Ministers expressed their condolences to the Russian people, who had suffered in recent bombings at the Moscow subway, and to their nearest relatives. Today, Minister A.Ažubalis sent a letter of condolence to Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov.

Meetings with Georgia’s officials also focused on the development of economic relations. Head of Lithuania’s diplomacy suggested that Georgia should be more active in using the potential of the high-speed container train ‘Viking’ and in cooperating on the issues of developing international transport corridors and energy links. Minister A.Ažubalis conveyed an invitation of Lithuania’s Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius to Prime Minister of Georgia N.Gilauri to visit Lithuania with a business delegation in the second half of this year.

On Saturday and Sunday, Minister A.Ažubalis visited regions of Georgia and got acquainted with the results of Lithuanian development cooperation projects that were implemented in 2009. The Minister travelled to the administrative border with the Tskhinvali region, where he met with representatives from the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia.

On Saturday, Vilnius Square in Tbilisi became a free wireless Internet zone. According to the Minister, this is a symbolical ‘window on the wider world’ for residents and visitors of the city, and another possibility for Lithuania to make this lovely urban space an attractive place of interest. Vilnius Square in Tbilisi was inaugurated in June last year, the Internet equipment and exploitation costs are funded by private sponsors.

Georgia is one of the biggest recipients of Lithuania’s development cooperation. In 2009, 22 projects worth 804 thousand Litas were implemented in the country in the areas of strengthening regional cooperation, children’s rights, democratic society and cultural cooperation.

In 2009, Lithuanian and Georgian trade turnover was 52.3 million Litas and, as compared with 2008, decreased by about 27.2 per cent. Nevertheless, Lithuania remains one of Georgia’s largest trading partners among the Baltic and Nordic countries, and the largest importer of Georgian goods in the region.