News

On 13 November at the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) meeting in Brussels the EU foreign ministers decided to continue preparations for negotiations with Russia on the new cooperation agreement.

The EU seeks the mandate for negotiations with Russia to be endorsed till the EU-Russia Summit on 24 November.

“At the meeting it was agreed to use the time left till 24 November for the best possible preparation of the text of the mandate,” Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Petras Vaitiekūnas said.

The ministers also discussed the preparations for the European Council in December. Minister Vaitiekūnas noted that the Council should pay enough attention to the enlargement of the Schengen zone.

The Head of Lithuanian Diplomacy also proposed the European Council to set the framework for strengthening of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2007 and to suggest the preparation of the EU Strategy on the Central Asia.

During the joint session of foreign and defence ministers Lithuanian Foreign Minister spoke for more active European Union’s involvement in reconstruction of Afghanistan.

“Whether we can call Afghanistan the “success” or not depends on our ability to concentrate efforts, better coordinate our activities, and especially on input of the states and organizations,” Mr Vaitiekūnas said.

The Minister said that Lithuania welcomes the decision to establish a Province Reconstruction Fund for Afghanistan and considers that the assistance should be distributed equally among all the provinces.

The EU foreign ministers also discussed the enlargement of the EU. Minister Vaitiekūnas welcomed the European Commission’s reports on the progress made by the EU candidate countries.