News

On October 23, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Antanas Valionis and the Ambassador of the USA to Lithuania John Tefft signed the Agreement on Extradition between Lithuania and the USA and exchanged the ratification letters of the Agreement on stimulation and bilateral protection of investments between Lithuania and the USA. After the ceremony the Minister of Foreign Affairs Antanas Valionis notified that both Agreements noted an important period in the history of the diplomatic relations between the countries. Lithuanian and the US Agreement on Extradition obliges the parties of the Agreement to extradite on one party’s request a person who made a crime or is being suspected of committing a crime in the territory of the requesting country so that the person could be brought to criminal responsibility or a sentence of a court could be enforced. The Ambassador of the USA John Tefft said that the Agreement on Extradition was of use for both Lithuania and the USA in searching for criminals hiding from the law and order institutions of Lithuania and the USA. He also declared that the Agreement would be an important instrument in combating international terrorism. Observing Lithuanian and the USA Agreement on stimulation and bilateral protection of investments the Ambassador of the USA hoped that the Agreement would stimulate private investments and serve for the expansion of bilateral economic relations. Among Lithuanian economic areas with good prospects for investments the Ambassador mentioned the development of biotechnologies. The Minister of Justice of Lithuania Vytautas Markevičius took part in the ceremony.