Vice-Minister E.Ignatavičius said that Lithuania’s development cooperation and democracy promotion policy aims to improve the political, economic and social situation in the European Union’s Eastern neighborhood countries and in Afghanistan.
“Such choice of priority countries is determined by the directions of Lithuania’s foreign policy. The Lithuanian chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and presidency of the Community of Democracies open up new possibilities for Lithuania’s foreign policy,” Vice-Minister E.Ignatavičius said.

The Vice-Minister said that first of all Lithuania supported projects aimed at social development, health care and administrative capacity building.

During the meeting, officials also discussed issues related to Afghanistan. Vice-Minister E.Ignatavičius urged the U.S.A. to dedicate more attention to the development of the province of Ghor in Afghanistan. The officials agreed to further consult on the means of cooperation.

When speaking about the EU’s Eastern neighborhood countries, Lithuania called the USAID’s attention to this region and invited to contribute to Lithuania’s ongoing projects.

According to Vice-Minister E.Ignatavičius, the EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative also opened up additional possibilities. The U.S.A. could as well find its own niche within the framework of this initiative.

The Lithuanian delegation met with the USAID Senior Advisor for Afghanistan and Pakistan Alan E. Van Egmond, head of the USAID’s office in Eurasia Kent A. Larson, and other officials.