News

On 26 January at the informal meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Brussels Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Petras Vaitiekūnas continued discussions on NATO’s operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo.

Minister Vaitiekūnas informed NATO Foreign Ministers about Lithuania’s decision to sent Special Operation Force unit to Southern Afghanistan and to strengthen the Alliance’s efforts to implement International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operation in Afghanistan.

“NATO success in Afghanistan depends on Allies’ abilities to concentrate in the most difficult places of the operation,” the Head of Lithuanian Diplomacy stated.

Minister Vaitiekūnas stressed that for successful operations in Afghanistan, Kosovo and elsewhere comprehensive military and civilian measures as well as better coordination of cooperation with other international and non-governmental organizations are necessary.

NATO Foreign Ministers also held a meeting with representatives of the countries and international organizations that contribute to NATO’s Afghanistan operation. This was the first meeting of this kind.

At the meeting Foreign Minister Vaitiekūnas urged the countries and international organizations that contribute to NATO’s Afghanistan operation to coordinate better their activities with Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT) in the country.

The Head of Lithuanian Diplomacy underlined the importance of the European Union’s financial assistance to the PRT projects. The Minister called on the UN to develop their activities in Afghanistan and invited to accelerate the establishment of the UN Assistance Mission’s office in Chagcharan, where Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team is located.