Expressing her view on the proposal put forward by some Member States to amend the EU treaties so that a permanent financial support mechanism could be set up President Dalia Grybauskaitė underlined the need to explore thoroughly all options of achieving this goal without amending the treaties but relying on the existing EU legal norms first.

"Only if this appears to be the only possible legal way and all Member States agree, Lithuania will support this option. Amending the treaties is a risky solution and I would therefore approve of only very concrete amendments focused on a very specific and narrow goal - to guarantee economic support to Member States. Otherwise we risk opening the Pandora Box," the President said.

According to the President, Lithuania, too, could benefit from such permanent financial support mechanism as it would provide assistance to any Member State facing financial problems. The President also underlined this type of support should be coupled with stronger economic coordination among Member States and higher responsibility of governments for irresponsible financial behavior that might provoke a crisis not only at home but also in other countries of the European Union.

Tomorrow the European Council is set to discuss its conclusions setting out the EU's position on these and other issues discussed at the meeting, such as preparation for the EU Summits with Russia, Ukraine and the United States and the EU's common position in the forthcoming G20 meeting and in the Climate Change Conference in Cancún.