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On 23 July in Vilnius, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sigitas Mitkus, met with his Greek counterpart, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Anastasios Chatzivasileiou. During the meeting, they discussed preparations for Lithuania’s and Greece’s Presidencies of the Council of the European Union (EU) in 2027, the main priorities of the EU agenda, and close cooperation between the two countries to ensure the continuity of work.

The Vice-Ministers exchanged views on the priorities of their respective presidencies and agreed to strive for close coordination in addressing key EU issues. The main focus was on European security and defense, support for Ukraine, tightening sanctions against Russia, EU enlargement, boosting competitiveness, and the ongoing negotiations on the EU’s multiannual financial framework.

Mitkus emphasised that, during its Presidency of the Council of the EU, Lithuania will strive to be a reliable and impartial mediator, contributing to the creation of a safer, more competitive, and more resilient Europe. He also stressed that the new EU multiannual financial framework must ensure sufficient funding for the Union’s strategic priorities—security and defense, competitiveness, and support for Ukraine. The Vice-Minister stressed the need to continue close cooperation between Lithuania and Greece within the Friends of Cohesion group to achieve common goals, including the goal of maintaining strong and adequately funded Cohesion Policy and Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), as well as ensuring the participation of all member states in the European Competitiveness Fund.

During the discussion on EU enlargement processes, the Vice-Minister highlighted that progress is essential: “We must move forward immediately in the enlargement process, not only by opening the remaining clusters of EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, but also by setting a date for EU membership for Ukraine and other candidate countries,” said  Mitkus.

When discussing bilateral relations between Lithuania and Greece, the Vice-Minister Mitkus underscored Lithuania's interest in further expanding mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation, including in the fields of defense technology, cybersecurity, information and communications technology, and the life sciences, and invited Greek representatives to actively participate in the “Baltic Miltech Summit 2027” and “Life Sciences Baltics 2027” exhibitions to be held in Lithuania next year, as well as in the annual “Eurofi” conference on financial services and regulatory policy.

The Council of the EU is chaired by groups of three member states (Trios), which ensure continuity of work for 18 months. The current Trio consists of Ireland, Lithuania, and Greece. Ireland assumed the Presidency on 1 July; Lithuania will hold the Presidency during the first half of 2027, and Greece during the second half of 2027.