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The Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Vytautas Leškevičius visited Stockholm on 26 April, where he met with the Swedish Minister for European Union Affairs Birgitta Ohlsson, and the Swedish State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Frank Belfrage. They discussed topical EU issues on the international agenda, and Lithuania’s preparation for the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Leškevičius noted that Lithuania’s Presidency would coincide with the end of the EU legislative cycle when the legislative workload would be unusually large and affirmed Lithuania’s readiness to work smoothly and effectively.

Ohlsson stressed that this would be a historic Presidency, bearing in mind that Lithuania would be the first Baltic State to take the helm of the Council of the European Union. She pointed out that the bilateral relations were excellent and priorities largely coincided, so the cooperation had great potential.

The two parties stressed the importance of cooperation with other Eastern Partnership countries, and agreed to strive for success at the forthcoming Eastern Partnership Summit this November in Vilnius.

Sweden, which held the Presidency of the EU Council at the time when the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region was approved in 2009, welcomed Lithuania’s plans to focus on the implementation of this strategy during the period of its Presidency. The officials also discussed preparations for the Annual Forum on the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, which will be held this November in Vilnius.

The meetings with the Swedish Minister for EU Affairs and the Swedish State Secretary for Foreign Affairs also discussed economic cooperation and energy security issues.

When thanking for Sweden’s expert support to Lithuania in preparation for the Presidency of the EU Council, Leškevičius expressed hope that common interests and shared values would allow the country to feel Sweden’s support to the Lithuanian Presidency also over next six months.

Leškevičius spoke about Lithuania’s incoming Presidency of the EU Council also during a meeting with the media, diplomats residing in Stockholm, and representatives from social interest groups.