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On 15 December, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius welcomed participants of the Lithuania-Poland roundtable discussion “Agenda for the future: policy synchronization in the face of challenges” at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania.

“Lithuania and Poland are neighbors, allies and close partners. In spite of the fact that sometimes there are road-blocks to neighborly relations, this relationship must be strong. We are doomed to cooperate, there is no other way out,” said Linkevičius.

According to Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, we live in difficult times and our countries are facing very similar threats and challenges. “Therefore, it is especially important to be united and to maintain a close dialogue on all important issues, including security, the EU’s Eastern Partnership, transport, energy, and other issues,” noted the head of Lithuania’s diplomacy.

“In the fields of security and defense, the Baltic states and Poland are seen as one region. We are in the same boat,” said Linkevičius.

Lithuania’s Foreign Minister underscored that Lithuania and Poland assessed security challenges in the same way, while a lack of cooperation in addressing them would be contrary to the national interests of the two countries.

As regards cooperation in energy and transport sectors, Linkevičius stressed the importance of Poland’s role in the implementation of such strategic projects, as the synchronization of the Baltic states’ power system with Continental Europe networks, the Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania and the Rail Baltica project.

Linkevičius noted that this discussion was an excellent opportunity for policy makers, experts and representatives of the academic community to exchange views on key issues and share their ideas. He welcomed the fact that the event had already become traditional. A similar roundtable discussion was held in December 2015 in Warsaw. Next year, it is also scheduled to be held in Poland.

The Political Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland Witold Sobków, the Dean of the Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy at Vytautas Magnus University, Prof. Šarūnas Liekis and the Director of the Polish Institute of International Affairs Sławomir Dębski also welcomed the participants of the event.

The event was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania in cooperation with the Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy at Vytautas Magnus University and the Polish Institute of International Affairs. The discussion was attended by representatives of government institutions and academia of Lithuania and Poland, who exchanged views on security situation in the region and Europe, shared their insights into the future of Europe and discussed cooperation in the energy field.

Today, the consultation of Political Directors at the Lithuanian and Polish Foreign Ministries also took place in Vilnius. During the consultation, Rolandas Kačinskas and Sobków discussed topical items on the bilateral and international agendas.

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