ONE OF LITHUANIA’S KEY PRIORITIES IN AUSTRALIA IS THE PRESERVATION AND PROMOTION OF THE LITHUANIAN IDENTITY, LITHUANIA’S FOREIGN VICE-MINISTER SAYS
On 16 March in Vilnius, Lithuania’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Šarūnas Adomavičius and new Ambassador of Australia to Lithuania Paul Wesley Stephens discussed bilateral cooperation in political, economic and cultural areas, as well as the role of Australia’s Lithuanian community in fostering friendly bilateral relations. The Vice-Minister stressed that the preservation of the Lithuanian identity abroad was one of Lithuania’s most important goals.
Vice-Minister Š.Adomavičius conveyed to the Ambassador an invitation from Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis for Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Stephen Smith to pay a visit to Lithuania.
The Vice-Minister presented Lithuania’s presidencies of the Community of Democracies and the Council of the Baltic Sea States to P.W.Stephens and highlighted the importance of multilateral cooperation in the United Nations.
During the meeting, Vice-Minister Š.Adomavičius informed the Ambassador about the priorities of Lithuania’s foreign policy and Lithuania’s preparation to chair the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2011 and for the European Union Presidency in 2013.
The Australian Ambassador welcomed good relations between the countries and voiced intentions to further strengthen the Lithuanian-Australian cooperation.
One of the discussed topics was trade and economic cooperation between the countries. The Vice-Minister and the Ambassador agreed that it was necessary to promote relations between the two countries in this sphere, and to exchange business delegations. Vice-Minister Š.Adomavičius invited Australian investors to benefit from favourable investment conditions in Lithuania.
Australia’s Ambassador to Lithuania P.W.Stephens resides in Stockholm, Sweden.
Lithuania and Australia established diplomatic relations on 6 November 1991.
About 18 thousand people of the Lithuanian background live in Australia and about 3 thousand are engaged in the activities of Lithuanian organizations.
In 2009, the trade turnover between Lithuania and Australia was 33 million Litas. The bilateral trade balance was positive for Lithuania and amounted to 27 million Litas in 2009.
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