News

En route to the Lithuania-EU meeting in Brussels, on 9 December in Berlin Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis met with German Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Joschka Fischer. “I wanted to meet with the German foreign minister so that he could learn the latest developments of Lithuanian accession negotiations firsthand. I also wanted to hear Germany’s response firsthand. Germany is the largest state of the European Union and the largest economy, whose contribution to the EU budget is also the largest,” Minister Valionis said after his meeting with the chief of German diplomacy. According to the Lithuanian foreign minister, "it is undeniable that the overall financial package is quite favourable to Lithuania as well as to the other Baltic states. However, we face the issues that make our situation exceptional, such as the Ignalina nuclear power plant and Kaliningrad transit". "At all levels and with all interlocutors we seek that our interests should be duly taken into account", the chief of Lithuanian diplomacy noted. According to Minister Valionis, the German Foreign Minister gave a very favourable evaluation to Lithuania’s stance on the issue of Kaliningrad transit and pledged his full support on this matter.