News

A traditional meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Parliaments of the Baltic States was held in Riga, Republic of Latvia, on 18-19 December. During the debate on topical issues relating to the implementation of the EU Eastern Partnership initiative, delegates from the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Parliaments focused particularly on the EU-Ukraine Summit of 19 December 2011.

Members of the delegations highlighted consistent support to the European integration aspirations of Ukraine and expressed their belief that the signing and implementation of the future Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine will be of key importance for Ukraine’s integration into the EU. The participants emphasised the need to concentrate like-minded efforts within the EU in an attempt to win more attention for the Eastern Partnership countries which, unlike the Southern Neighbourhood, were asserting their EU membership ambition.

The meeting also discussed projects underway in the areas of energy and transport. It unanimously noted the necessity to accelerate joint projects aimed at ensuring real energy independence and integration into the trans-European transport and energy networks. Members of the Foreign Affairs Committees also exchanged views on the situation in Russia surrounding the recent Russian Duma elections and the upcoming presidential elections.

The meeting was attended by Mr Emanuelis Zingeris, Chairman of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the following members of the Committee: Ms Vilija Aleknaitė-Abramikienė, Mr Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis and Mr Rokas Žilinskas.

Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania