IN WASHINGTON, D.C., LITHUANIAN VICE-MINISTER AND U.S. OFFICIALS DISCUSS KEY ISSUES OF COOPERATION BETWEEN LITHUANIA AND THE U.S.A.
On 14 September, Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Asta Skaisgirytė Liauškienė paid a working visit to the United States, where she met with members of the U.S. administration and discussed Lithuania’s Chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the implementation of energy projects in Lithuania and in its neighbourhood, the spread of democracy and the upcoming NATO Summit. In Washington, D.C., Lithuanian Vice-Minister met with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour at the United States Department of State Thomas Melia, National Security Advisor to the Vice President Anthony Blinken and Special Assistant to the U.S. President for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for European Affairs Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall.
During the conversations, A.Skaisgirytė Liauškienė presented to the U.S. officials Lithuania’s Chairmanship of the OSCE and the preparation for the OSCE Ministerial Council that will be held on 6-7 December in Vilnius.“We hope that the OSCE Ministerial Council in Vilnius will bring specific results. We tend to think that during the remaining short period it is possible to reach compromises in certain areas and to strengthen commitments of the OSCE member countries in human dimension, security, economy and energy fields. We will closely cooperate with the United States, as well as with other countries, and will look forward for an active high-level participation of the U.S. in the OSCE Ministerial Council in Vilnius,” said Lithuanian diplomat.
They also discussed the implementation of energy projects in the Baltic Sea region. The United States was invited to continue closely monitoring these projects.
Lithuanian representative pointed out that Lithuania was especially concerned about the very active implementation of nuclear power projects in Belarus and Kaliningrad region that were developed without holding consultations with this country.
“We believe that the international community has to monitor with maximum care the development of these nuclear power projects and their compliance with international requirements. The attention of the U.S. as our partner is very important to us,” said A.Skaisgirytė Liauškienė.
At the meetings, the officials highlighted that Lithuania was a clear leader in the region in supporting democracy reforms and democratic forces in Lithuania’s Eastern neighbourhood. During the conversations, the interlocutors agreed to continue to actively cooperate when supporting civil society in Belarus, to pay greater attention to young people, to the European Humanities University in Vilnius and to similar projects and reforms in other countries in European neighbourhood.
The Vice-Minister invited the U.S. officials to more frequently take part in discussions of experts and analysts in Lithuania on safety, EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood policy and energy security issues.
Senior officials from the U.S. Department of State supported Lithuania’s efforts to implement energy projects, positively evaluated Lithuania’s Chairmanship of the OSCE and said that they understood Lithuanian’s concern about the construction of the nuclear power plants in the country’s neighbourhood.
The Vice-Minister and the U.S. partners also discussed the preparation for the upcoming NATO Summit that will be held in May 2012 in Chicago.
