Lithuanian PM suggests holding first joint sitting of Lithuanian and Latvian governments

“First of all, I would like to highlight that our cooperation has never been more intensive than now: apart from great political relations, Latvia is a very important trading partner for Lithuania as businesses of our countries discover more and more new niches for investment,” the Lithuanian PM told Latvia’s Straujuma.

According to Butkevičius, cooperation in the multilateral context is no less importance. “It is particularly important to pay proper attention to our partnership in international organisations. Unity of our countries in the geopolitical context is very significant,” he stressed.

Butkevičius talked about the future Baltic Council of Ministers to be held in Lithuania in August, as well as the meeting of the Baltic counterparts in the ceremony marking the completion of the energy projects LitPolLink and NordBalt.”We welcome the idea of the Energy Union, and we are taking every effort to eliminate the energy islands: the current projects of Klaipėda liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal can already serve the diversification of the gas market in the region, the electrical interconnection LitPolLink and NordBalt ensure synchronization with the continental European networks”, noted the Lithuanian PM and asked for Latvia’s support in the political dialogue with Poland regarding the construction of the pipeline between Lithuania and Poland (GIPL).

During the meeting, Lithuania’s PM presented the idea to hold the first joint sitting of the Lithuanian and Latvian Governments in Lithuania.

“It would be an opportunity to discuss such essential issues as energy and transportation, our fight against shadow economy, as well as culture issues and regional investment promotion,” he said and asked the Latvian PM to share best practices of Latvia in negotiations over the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) membership.

The meeting agenda also included the discussion of the priorities of the Latvian Presidency of the EU Council. The Lithuanian PM expressed his appreciation for all the efforts during the challenging period of the presidency, pointing out a great deal of responsibility of the work to be continued by the upcoming Luxembourg Presidency.