On 2 December, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Deividas Matulionis took part in an annual Summit of the Baltic Development Forum in Copenhagen.

In his speech, State Secretary of the Ministry dedicated most attention to the topics of energy security and transport infrastructure development.  D.Matulionis indicated that it was necessary to actively solve the problems of energy isolation of the Baltic States and transport networks.

“The Baltic Sea Strategy that is currently under preparation by the European Commission is a perfect possibility to implement the most important regional projects, which will have an impact on the growth of competitiveness and welfare of the whole of the European Union”, said D.Matulionis.

State Secretary of the Ministry noted that the solution of many issues in the region could be successfully solved only if neighbouring countries – Russia and Belarus - are involved. He also encouraged the EU to seek the facilitation of visa regime for the residents of Belarus and, in this way, to promote people-to-people contacts in the region.

This is the tenth Summit of the Baltic Development Forum, which is chaired by former Foreign Minister of Denmark Uffe Ellemann-Jensen.

The Forum joins together eleven countries of the Baltic Sea region and over two thousand of representatives from the spheres of policy and business. The goal of the Forum is to promote the economic development of the Baltic Sea region, by strengthening the cooperation among politicians, state institutions, businesses and scientists.