LITHUANIA HOPES THAT THE NEW U.S. CONGRESS WILL GIVE ATTENTION TO EUROPE, LITHUANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS
Lithuania looks forward to an active role of the new Congress of the United States in “continuing the free and united Europe project”,” Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Audronius Ažubalis said during a round table discussion at the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C. on 16 November.The Minister presented priorities of Lithuania’s foreign policy, dedicating special attention to Lithuania’s upcoming chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2011, energy security and democratic development.
The discussion was attended by the next Chairperson of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, former Speaker of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert and other members of the House: Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart, Chris Smith, Peter Roskam and Shelley Berkley.In Washington, D.C., Minister A.Ažubalis also met with United States Senator John McCain and discussed with him political perspectives of Belarus, the situation in Ukraine, relations between Russia and Georgia.
Head of Lithuanian diplomacy stressed that it was necessary to better coordinate efforts of Lithuania, the United States and other Western countries for strengthening democracy in the European Union’s eastern neighbourhood and for helping the countries in this region to draw closer to Europe.
