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On 6 March in Brussels, at the meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Petras Vaitiekūnas discussed the most important topics of the upcoming NATO Summit Meeting of Heads of State and Government in Bucharest: the enlargement of the Alliance, further steps in developing cooperation with Georgia and Ukraine, which requested to join the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP), the process of NATO missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo, the cooperation between the European Union and NATO during missions and operations.

Minister P.Vaitiekūnas firmly supported the Euro-integration goals of Georgia and Ukraine, proposing to invite those countries to join the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) during the NATO Summit in Bucharest in April this year.

‘It would be a proper stimulus for the countries that are actively implementing reforms. The NATO Membership Action Plan would certainly help Georgia and Ukraine to consolidate their progress and would encourage them to continue implementing reforms. Currently aspiring to join NATO, Macedonia, Albania and Croatia have practically proved the effectiveness of the MAP,’ said the head of Lithuanian diplomacy.

Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed support to members of the Vilnius Ten - Albania, Croatia and Macedonia – on their path to joining NATO. The Minister proposed that allies should consider the progress of the candidates and invite them to join the Alliance in Bucharest.

The head of Lithuanian diplomacy welcomed the preparation of NATO’s strategic comprehensive civilian-military plan for Afghanistan. Such plan would aid the people of Afghanistan to take more and more initiative in guaranteeing security and reconstructing their State. The Minister highlighted that Lithuania’s civil and military input into the operation in Afghanistan has shown a stable growth since 2005.

Minister P.Vaitiekūnas called the attention of allies to the urgent need to resolve the issue of the NATO-EU action coordination, particularly in Kosovo.

‘Both NATO and the European Union have to take decided action,’ said P.Vaitiekūnas. 

On 5 March, on the eve of the meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers, Minister P.Vaitiekūnas invited Foreign Minister of Estonia Urmas Paet, Foreign Minister of Bulgaria Ivail G.Kalfin, Foreign Minister of Latvia Maris Riekstins, Foreign Minister of Poland Radoslaw Sikorski, Foreign Minister of Romania Adrian Cioroianu and high-ranking U.S. Administration officials to the informal dinner of the Group of Georgia’s Friends with the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia Nino Burjanadze and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia David Bakradze. 

Participants of the meeting consulted how to help Georgia to achieve its strategic goal of quicker integration into NATO. They agreed to continue the support and coordination of practical actions, which would help Georgia to join the Membership Action Plan during the Summit in Bucharest.  This is already a second meeting of the Group of Georgia’s Friends, organised at the Lithuanian initiative. The first one was held in September 2007 in Vilnius.

In Brussels, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs also visited the NATO Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), where he met with Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), U.S. Army General John Craddock and discussed the important issues on NATO’s agenda: operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo, NATO air policing mission in Lithuania and energy security.

During the meeting, Lithuania was thanked for leading a Provincial Reconstruction Team in the Province of Ghor, in Afghanistan.

It was the first visit of Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs to the NATO Supreme Headquarters after Lithuania’s joining NATO in 2004.