IN WASHINGTON D.C., LITHUANIA’S DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER IS HOLDING CONSULTATIONS WITH THE U.S ADMINISTRATION ON FOREIGN POLICY ISSUES
On October 12 in Washington D.C., Evaldas Ignatavičius, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania and senior U.S. administration officials discussed important foreign policy issues. The officials paid special attention to NATO and US-European Union summits that would take place in November in Lisbon, Portugal, Lithuania’s chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2011 and Lithuania’s presidency of the Community of Democracies (CoD) that has already reached its midterm.
At the meetings, the officials also discussed prospects of the Russia-Ukraine relations, the situation in Belarus and events in the Caucasus.At the meeting with Nancy McEldowney, U.S. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Ignatavičius said that Lithuania was taking over the OSCE chairmanship after having accumulated the necessary experience for it.
“Lithuania’s goal is to strengthen comprehensive security within the OSCE area, to look for solutions to protracted conflicts and to encourage the international community to realize that respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and the principles of international law is the single element of successful and sustainable cooperation among the countries,” Ignatavičius said.
During the meeting with McEldowney, the Deputy Minister also raised the issue of the preservation of Lithuanian cultural heritage in the U.S.A. and requested the U.S. administration to dedicate due attention to it.
Lithuania’s presidency of the CoD was discussed at the meeting with Maria Otero, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs .
Ignatavičius stressed that at the upcoming CoD ministerial meeting on June 30- July 1, 2011 in Vilnius Lithuania would aim to have important decisions made regarding the reform of theCoD which would allow ensuring functional viability and efficiency of the Community.
Deputy Minister Ignatavičius reminded that a forum of Women World Leaders would be held at the same time in Vilnius.
In Washington D.C., Ignatavičius also met with the U.S non-governmental organizations that took an active part in the field of democracy-building. It was agreed to have these organizations involved into the projects that are implemented by Lithuania
