LITHUANIAN FOREIGN VICE-MINISTER’S MEETINGS WITH U.S. OFFICIALS FOCUS ON THE UPCOMING OSCE MINISTERIAL COUNCIL IN VILNIUS
Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Evaldas Ignatavičius, who is paying a working visit to Washington, D.C., the U.S. politicians and administration officials discussed preparations for the Ministerial Council that will be held in Vilnius in the beginning of December and relations with neighbours in the East. “The U.S. commends Lithuania’s Chairmanship of the OSCE, contribution to the advancement of the solution to protracted conflicts, the agreement that has been reached on the resumption of formal negotiations on the Transnistrian settlement and the strengthening of the dialogue of the OSCE with its Mediterranean partners,” said the Co-Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, Senator Benjamin Cardin. He stressed that the priorities of Lithuania’s OSCE Chairmanship – the protection of human rights, the strengthening of the safety of journalists and of media freedom – were important for the entire OSCE community.
The 18th session of the OSCE Ministerial Council will be held in Vilnius on 6-7 December.E.Ignatavičius also met with Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for European Affairs. They discussed the agenda of the NATO summit in Chicago in May next year.
The Vice-Minister stressed that the issue of the extension of NATO’s air policing mission in the Baltic States was very important for the people of these countries.
E.Ignatavičius also stressed that Lithuania, as a country which dedicates considerable attention to energy security, hopes that the NATO Summit will evaluate Lithuania’s efforts to gain the status of NATO’s Centre of Excellence for the Energy Security Centre in Vilnius.
The Lithuanian diplomat and officials from the U.S. Department of State also discussed the projects that promote democracy and support reforms in Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus. The Vice-Minister stressed that when implementing its development cooperation policy, Lithuania paid particular attention to its neighbours in the East.
The delegation led by E.Ignatavičius also met with Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. The U.S. politician thanked Lithuania for its contribution to the activities of international organizations and confirmed her plans to come to Lithuania in 2012.
