News

On 13-14 October, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Neris Germanas participated in the 21st ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok. In the meeting, the Bangkok Declaration on Promoting an Asean-EU Global Partnership for Shared Strategic Goals was announced.

Germanas said that the EU and ASEAN should deepen their cooperation in the fields of clean energy, energy efficiency and nuclear safety. According to Lithuania’s Foreign Vice-Minister, the EU-ASEAN cooperation would be incomplete without it. Moreover, there are a few examples of such successful cooperation. Germanas also expressed Lithuania’s concerns over the construction of the Astravets nuclear power plant and reminded about the need to comply with international nuclear safety standards.

During the meeting, the officials paid a lot of attention to international security threats in Europe and Asia, the fight against terrorism and radicalization, and international conflicts. Lithuania’s Foreign Vice-Minister reminded the participants of the meeting of the ongoing war in Ukraine and stressed that “Russia’s actions pose a threat not only to its neighbouring countries, but also to the entire international community, including the ASEAN countries – Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was downed over eastern Ukraine”. Germanas called on the countries to continue their diplomatic support to Ukraine and not to recognize the annexation of Crimea.

Founded in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a regional organisation comprising ten Southeast Asian states that promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic integration amongst its members. In the end of March of this year, Lithuania accredited the Ambassador to Japan Egidijus Meilūnas as its representative to the ASEAN.