President of the Republic of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus said goodbye to the outgoing Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia Mr. Svjetlan Berković.

Thanking the Croatian Ambassador for his work in Lithuania, the President underlined that Lithuania's and Croatia's political and economic relations had become very intense in the past few years. “Bilateral presidential visits, Lithuania's increasing attention to business development in Your region, and the economic agreements signed recently have made our relations stronger,” President Adamkus said.
 
The President underlined Lithuania always supported, and would support, Croatia on its way to the EU, and expressed hope Croatia would successfully continue the EU membership negotiations, carry on with reforms and solve amicably the outstanding disputable issues with the neighboring Slovenia.
 
“If Croatia has managed to follow the difficult path of Euro-Atlantic integration, if Croatia has already come closer to the EU membership, then why couldn't other neighboring Balkan countries equal this success”, the President asked.
 
The President also noted Lithuania was one of the first countries to ratify Croatia's NATO accession protocols, and expressed hope that once all NATO Member States have ratified those protocols, Croatia could be congratulated on becoming a full-fledged NATO member already in the upcoming NATO summit in April.
 
According to the President of Lithuania, Euro-Atlantic integration has injected stability in the Balkan region and has made it yet more attractive to foreign investors, including Lithuanian businesses. “Lithuania is among the most active Baltic countries to develop economic, business and political relations with Croatia. I therefore believe the establishment of Croatia's embassy in Vilnius would be the next correct and welcomed step in the bilateral relations of our countries,” the President said.
 
The outgoing Ambassador thanked the President for Lithuania's continuing support to Croatia on its path to the EU and NATO. “We are grateful to You personally and to all people of Lithuania for supporting our reforms and our euro-integration aspirations. I hope we will deepen further our bilateral relations and increasingly develop our business and economic ties,” the Ambassador said.