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On 5 July Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Petras Vaitiekūnas at the conference “The EU-Russian Relations” indicated that for Lithuania the cooperation between the European Union and Russia is especially important. The continuous cooperation is stimulated not only by close neighbourhood, but also by historical relations, cultural and economic links and common challenges.

“If strategic partnership with Russia is important for the European Union, it is even more important for the EU Member States that are neighbours of Russia. We are the first to win or lose, when the tone of the EU-Russian relations changes,” stressed Minister P.Vaitiekūnas.

Lithuania, according to the Minister, is ready for close and mutually beneficial cooperation. So far the relations between Lithuania and Russia give evidence for this. The basis for these relations was formed more than 80 years ago and was still being developed during the last 16 years.

“This is our interest and such is our neighbourhood policy,” – said the Head of Lithuanian diplomacy, naming the examples of successful practical cooperation between Lithuania and Russia, such as the Kaliningrad transit or mutual economic relations.

Minister stated that currently the EU-Russian relations experienced not the best times, as various issues were obscuring them, among them the unresolved issue of the renewal of oil supply via the pipeline to Lithuania, as well as the mysterious disappearances of the EU citizens in the territory of Russia.

“In our opinion, all we need is a little bit of good will and openness to start solving those issues. We hope that in the nearest time Russia will answer all the questions of great concern to us, because transparency and mutual confidence are fundamental principles of the neighbourhood partnership,” Minister P.Vaitiekūnas indicated at the conference.

The international conference at the Lithuanian Seimas is held by the Socialist Group in the European Parliament and the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania.

The participants of the conference were greeted by Prime Minister of Lithuania Gediminas Kirkilas, Vice-Chairman of Subcommittee on Security and Defence in the European Parliament Justas Paleckis. The speakers at the conference were: Vice-Chairmen of Socialist Group in the European Parliament Hannes Swoboda and Jan Marinus Wiersma, Chairman of Lithuanian Seimas’ Committee for Foreign Affairs Justinas Karosas, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Povilas Gylys, Deputy President of the Committee for International Affairs of the Council of Federation of Russia Vasilij Lihachov, journalist and political analyst Andrei Grachov, International Secretary of the Social Democratic Party of Russia Boris Guseletov, Director of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University Raimundas Lopata.