News

On 24 October in Athens, the Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Rolandas Kačinskas held bilateral consultations with the Political Affairs Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece Petros Mavroidis, adjusted positions on important items on the EU and NATO agendas, discussed bilateral cooperation and ways to strengthen ties between Lithuania and Greece.

According to Kačinskas, currently there is a lot of untapped potential for cooperation between the countries. Thus, Lithuania seeks to deepen its cooperation with Greece in various fields.

“Both countries are of geo-strategic importance, both are interested in strengthening the EU and NATO’s external borders, both make efforts to build a stable neighbourhood that would have strong links with Europe and, finally, further success of the development of the two countries will be largely determined by the success of the EU. This clearly shows that we are all in the same boat, although we live in different countries. Therefore, our concord and harmonious actions are more important than ever today,” said the Lithuanian diplomat.

During the consultations, Kačinskas informed in detail the Greek Political Affairs Director about the security environment in the Baltic Sea region and stressed the need to maintain a uniform EU’s policy towards Russia that would be based on respect for international law and principles, and called for a continued diplomatic, political and other support to Ukraine and other countries of the Eastern Neighbourhood. Kačinskas also presented Lithuania’s expectations with regard to the European Union’s new Global Strategy and the country’s interest in a rapid implementation of decisions of the NATO Summit in Warsaw.

The Greek Political Affairs Director informed about the country’s refugee situation and thanked Lithuania for its assistance and for sending various Lithuanian experts. The representatives of the two countries exchanged positions on the migrant crisis and solutions. The officials noted that when addressing the migrant crisis, it was important to deal with its causes and the EU should more actively contribute to the resolution of international conflicts. The Lithuanian Political Director thanked Greece for its contribution to the NATO mission in the Aegean Sea, a major route for migrants crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands, in order to prevent illegal migration and illegal human trafficking from taking place.

The meeting also discussed other important items on the EU agenda, the situations in Libya, Syria and Iraq, and the situation in Turkey.

The next year will mark the 25th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Lithuania and Greece on 7 January. Contacts with Greece and Lithuania’s attention to this country have recently increased dramatically, as Lithuania started implementing an asylum program and joined the euro zone.