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Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius has met with Prime Minister of Finland Matti Vanhanen in his residence. The two Premiers have openly discussed strategies for overcoming the economic downturn. The Prime Ministers have agreed that not only each country must have its own national strategy, but a coordinated EU strategy and more intense bilateral cooperation policy are required as well. The Prime Ministers have also discussed topical EU issues and the complicated process of the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, which will depend on the Irish referendum results.

The meeting has also focused on the Eastern Partnership programme and the participation of Belarus therein, as well as relations with Russia. Prime Minister Kubilius has pointed out that it is of great importance to Lithuania that the EU Eastern Partnership process takes a significant role in the common strategy of the Baltic Sea States.

Energy security issues have also been discussed during the meeting. Finnish Prime Minister Vanhanen has shared experience of Finland in the construction of a new nuclear power plant.

Today, Prime Minister Kubilius has also had a meeting with Speaker of the Parliament Sauli Niinistö, where, among other things, autumn parliamentary sessions in both countries have been discussed. Both Finland and Lithuania have experienced a GDP fall in the first half of the year, therefore both of them will have to find an agreement as regards the measures for the reanimation of the economy and stabilisation of public finances. The Speaker of the Finnish Parliament has pointed out that Lithuania is among the first to have realised that the return to the track of the fast economic growth would hardly be feasible in the immediate future, therefore it is necessary to cut on public spending.

Prime Minister Kubilius has also met with the Chancellor of the Helsinki University of Technology Matti Pursula, who has briefed the Prime Minister on the ongoing higher education reform approved by the Parliament back in June. Prime Minister Kubilius has noted that the fact that both Finland and Lithuania launched this reform at about the same time demonstrates that both countries have long-term projections for sustainable development apart from the desire to cope the current economic recession as early as possible.

Continuing his visit in Helsinki Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius met with President of Finland Tarja Halonen. The Lithuanian Prime Minister and the Finish President expressed agreement that the Nordic and the Baltic States constituted a single region and thus there was a need to focus more greatly on various joint initiatives, especially the Baltic Sea Strategy, which had been approved by the European Union. President Halonen said she focused greatly on the environmental issues of the Baltic Sea and expressed concern about the delayed construction of the wastewater treatment plant in the Kaliningrad Region of the Russian Federation.
The Finish President also invited the Lithuanian Prime Minister to the Baltic Sea Action Summit, to take place in Helsinki in February 2010.

The President highly appreciated Lithuania’s efforts in keeping dialogue with Belarus on the basis of the European values, particularly referring to the European Humanities University operating in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Prime Minister and the Finnish President expressed the shared hope that eventually Belarus would become a part of the unified Europe. Furthermore, the interlocutors agreed about the necessity to have more joint Finnish-Lithuanian projects aimed at strengthening ties with Belarus and the Kaliningrad Region.

President Tarja Halonen expressed her delight about Dalia Grybauskaitė having assumed office of the President of the Republic of Lithuania, pointing out that the President’s experience gained in the European Commission will prove especially relevant for Lithuania at this particular period of time.