News

On 12 January, Lithuania’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Asta Skaisgirytė Liauškienė and Spain’s Secretary of State for the European Union of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Diego López Garrido discussed possibilities to strengthen the EU’s energy security. The meeting with the representative of the current EU Presidency - Spain – took place on the eve of an informal meeting of ministers for Europe in La Granja, the Spanish province of Segovia.

During the bilateral meeting, the European Energy Action Plan for 2010-2014 was discussed. The plan, which is currently being drafted by Spain, will define the EU’s energy policy development guidelines for the next five years.

The Vice-Minister stressed the necessity to include The Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan into this document as one of the priorities. The plan outlines measures to ensure the energy independence of the Baltic States.

“The new Action Plan should focus on the weakest links of the EU’s energy security and energy islands, including also the Baltic States,” Vice-Minister A.Skaisgirytė Liauškienė said.

According to Spain’s Secretary of State, Lithuania and Spain basically share the positions on the issues that were discussed.

“We have this interest in common, as both Lithuania and Spain are energy islands. Therefore, strengthening the EU’s energy security will receive special attention during Spain’s EU Presidency,” D.López Garrido said.

The Action Plan (currently under preparation) of the implementation of the Stockholm Programme for justice and home affairs, which was adopted by heads of the EU member states, was discussed at the meeting.

The Stockholm Programme lays the foundations for the cooperation of the EU police, customs and rescue services, as well as for the asylum, migration and visa policy, and the cooperation within the framework of criminal and civil law in 2010-2014.

During the conversation, the Vice-Minister stressed the importance of continuity of the evaluation of crimes of totalitarian regimes on the EU level, as it is significant for the efforts to achieve the historic justice.

Opinions were also exchanged on the establishment of new specialised divisions of FRONTEX. The agency coordinates operational cooperation between EU member states in the field of border security. Vice-Minister A.Skaisgirytė Liauškienė acquainted Secretary of State D.López Garrido with plans to seek to establish a division of this agency in Lithuania.

During the conversation, the interlocutors also touched upon the EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative and the issue of visa liberalization for Eastern European countries. The Vice-Minister stressed that Lithuania would continue to aim at visa facilitation for the citizens of these countries and greater mobility of their citizens.

Vice-Minister A. Skaisgirytė Liauškienė invited the Spanish State Secretary to pay a visit to Lithuania.

On 12-14 January in La Granja, Lithuania’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs is participating in an informal meeting of ministers for Europe, during which priorities for the Spanish EU Presidency, the implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon and the new EU 2020 strategy for economic growth and employment are being discussed.