President Valdas Adamkus, on a two-day state visit in Prague, joined President of the Czech Senate Pŕemysl Sobotka for a working lunch to discuss bilateral trade, energy, culture, and other topicalities.

Among the other issues touched upon during the lunch were EU enlargement, Eastern Neighborhood Policy, regional cooperation between the Visegrád Group and the Baltic States, NATO, and energy security.

President Adamkus pointed out that both Lithuania and the Czech Republic sought independence guided by their common vision of winning and consolidating independence and creating secure life for their people. Mr. Adamkus thanked Pŕemysl Sobotka for his country's decision to participate in NATO “air police” based in Zokniai. The Czech fighter jets will take over the policing of the airspace over the Baltic States this coming May.

“For us, it is very important, in psychological terms too, to feel such support,” Mr. Adamkus said. The Czech Republic also lent huge assistance to Lithuania on its path to NATO when the Czech Embassy in Vilnius took on the role of NATO's Contact Embassy.

Speaking about the EU Eastern Partnership Initiative, President Adamkus and President of Czech Senate Sobotka underlined that the European Union should assume leadership in bringing Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, and other countries to the EU.

The current economic downturn and Europe's efforts to solve the problems stemming from it were also discussed. It was agreed that open-market principles were of primary importance and that protectionism should be definitely avoided by all countries when they implement their economic stimulus plans.

Pŕemysl Sobotka and Valdas Adamkus spoke about the Czech initiative and Mr. Slobotka's personal efforts to have the communist totalitarian regimes and their consequences condemned.