LITHUANIA’S HEAD OF DIPLOMACY: THE BALTIC SEA REGION SHOULD BECOME THE MOST COMPETITIVE IN THE WORLD
On 9 April, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania Petras Vaitiekūnas participated at the Nordic-Baltic meeting (NB6) in Stockholm. Danish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Finnish and Swedish ministers, responsible for the European Union affairs, discussed important issues of the future of the EU and the Baltic Sea region.
Lithuanian head of diplomacy expressed his belief that the Baltic Sea strategy which is currently being drafted by the European Commission would be a proper instrument to help our region to become one of the most competitive and attractive regions in the world.
The ministers exchanged opinions on the priorities of each country concerning the new EU budget. Lithuanian Foreign Minister spoke in favour of the budget that would meet new challenges and would be oriented towards the future. The financial resources should be allocated to the fields which create the biggest value added – namely, science and research, transport and energy links, external relations.
The ministers also discussed the Lisbon process and readiness of the countries to face the main challenges – the growing competition, climate change.
In the opinion of P.Vaitiekūnas, a well functioning EU‘s internal market should be created by abolishing the remaining barriers to the free movement of goods, services and persons. This step as well as greater and purposeful investment into science, research and integrated EU‘s energy infrastructure are necessary in order to implement the requirements of Lisbon.
During his visit in Stockholm Minister P.Vaitiekūnas also met with the members of the Swedish parliament (the Riksdag) and with Mikael Odenberg, the new Director-General of Svenska Kraftnät, the Swedish state utility that administers and runs the national electrical grid and also has the system responsibility for the national supply of natural gas. During the latter meeting the interlocutors discussed the project of linking the Lithuanian and Swedish electricity networks.
The Minister and the members of parliament discussed the important matters of bilateral cooperation in the EU and the implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy.
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