During a meeting of the European Union’s General Affairs and External Relations Council on 14-15 September in Brussels, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas and his counterparts discussed the preparation for the European Council on 29-30 October and etc.
During a meeting of the European Union’s General Affairs and External Relations Council on 14-15 September in Brussels, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas and his counterparts discussed the preparation for the European Council on 29-30 October, relations with the South Caucasus, the situation in Afghanistan and Iran, and met with foreign ministers of five countries of Central Asia.
During the meeting, the EU foreign ministers discussed institutional, economic, financial, energy security, climate change and illegal migration issues that are on the agenda of the European Council. The European Council also intends to endorse the Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.
While speaking about the preparation for the European Council, Minister V.Ušackas mostly highlighted energy security: the necessity to implement progressive energy infrastructure projects that would help to integrate Lithuania and the region into Europe’s energy market, and to create effective mechanisms of crisis management. The Minister expressed hope that this strategically important issue would be properly reflected in the European Council’s agenda.
“Smooth implementation of the Baltic energy market interconnection plan and creation of common EU external energy policy was and remain one of the most important priorities of Lithuania, which would allow to guarantee the energy independence of the country,” said Minister V.Ušackas.
The Minister stressed that it was important for Lithuania to use energy more effectively and to increase the consumption of renewable energy sources. This will become especially important when Lithuania closes down the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. The Minister expressed his satisfaction about the activities of the European Commission, particularly about its cooperation with Ukraine, thus aiming to avoid interruptions of the gas supply to Europe in the future.
Foreign ministers also discussed bilateral relations of the EU and other three countries of the South Caucasus. Currently, the EU relations with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are regulated by the Partnership and Cooperation Agreements, which came into force in 1999 for the duration of ten years and since 2009 they would be annually extended.
Principal provisions of further cooperation with the Caucasus countries were discussed at the suggestion of the Swedish EU Presidency. Minister V.Ušackas welcomes today’s decision regarding the preparation of new generation agreements with the countries of the South Caucasus and the assignment for the Commission to prepare the projects of negotiating mandates by the end of November, allowing the countries to start together, but later differentiating among them according to their progress. In the Minister’s opinion, the bilateral cooperation that includes signing association agreements and free trade agreements, development of the facilitated visa regime, and practical multilateral cooperation, which involves projects and the implementation of strategically important initiatives, are an important instrument that allows lifting relations to a qualitatively new level.
“The Eastern Partnership is based on the fundamental values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Therefore, cooperation with the EU will stimulate reforms in the most important areas and will contribute to security, deepening economic relations and developing closer people-to-people ties,” head of Lithuania’s diplomacy said.
During the Council, the conference of the EU and Central Asian foreign ministers was also held. The ministers discussed issues of regional security, energy, environment protection, drinking water shortage, as well as the situation in the world economy and finance.
According to Minister V.Ušackas, a lot of progress has been made in the EU’s relations with Central Asia since 2007, when an EU strategy for Central Asia was adopted. The Minister also spoke up for an active involvement of the EU and international organisations into the solution of the region’s stability, economic and energy cooperation issues.
“While implementing the EU strategy for Central Asia, an important EU partner is the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Lithuania and Kazakhstan, as future chairs of the OSCE in 2010-2011, will seek that joint EU-OSCE effort would be made co-ordinately to solve challenges, arising in the Central Asian region,” stressed V.Ušackas.