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On  April 23 at the EU Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis underlined that the EU engagement in Afghanistan was a long-term task, and that cooperation with Kabul had to continue after transferring the security responsibility to the Afghan National Security Forces in 2014.

“We welcome the determination of the Council of the European Union to support Afghanistan’s effort to strengthen the judicial branch and the rule of law also after 2014. Lithuania will continue to provide political and practical support for Afghanistan until 2014 and beyond,” Ažubalis said at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting.

The Minister informed the participants that the Lithuanian Government decided to make contributions to the maintenance of the Afghan National Security Forces also after 2014. Ažubalis also drew attention of EU Foreign Ministers to the message of his recent meeting with President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai and other country’s leaders in Kabul that long-term international support would be possible if Kabul would respect international commitments.

As a means to welcome the on-going positive developments in Burma/Myanmar, EU Ministers decided to suspend the restrictive measures imposed on the country by the EU, with the exception of the arms embargo. According to Ažubalis, this partial lifting of sanctions is an appropriate step to take. It will be possible to lift all sanctions, if Burma/Myanmar will continue the on-going reform. The EU still expects the unconditional release of remaining political prisoners, the abolition of repressive laws and the settlement of ethnic conflicts.

When discussing the situation in the Middle East after the Quartet meeting on 11 April, Ažubalis stressed that more active mutual effort of the conflicting parties in the field of education would contribute to finding a long-term solution to the conflict.

The Foreign Affairs Council reinforced once more sanctions on Syria and evaluated the implementation of the Six-Points Peace Plan on Syria, drafted by UN and Arab League Special Envoy to Syria Kofi Annan. Lithuania welcomes the UN Security Council’s resolutions, including the unanimously taken decision of April 21 to send 300 observers to Syria, and believes that this is an important step towards the implementation of the Annan’s plan.