Foreign Minister sees no alternatives to close cooperation with Poland

“Lithuania and Poland are the closest neighbors and strategic partners that share numerous common interests and challenges; therefore, there are no alternatives to close cooperation between the countries,” the Foreign Ministry quoted Linkevičius as saying in a press release.

The Polish official is taking part in the Snow Meeting, an informal two-day gathering of security policy experts in the district of Trakai, not far from the capital of Vilnius.

Szczerski and Linkevičius discussed bilateral cooperation and issues regarding the situation of the Polish minority in Lithuania, as well as the EU’s agenda, security policy and energy security, and relations with Russia, the situation in Ukraine and the Eastern Partnership policy.

Among other things, the officials underlined the importance of energy and transport cooperation between Lithuania and Poland.

“Cooperation with Poland is essential to achieve synchronization of the Baltic electricity system synchronization with the continental European grid and to maximize the effective use of the Rail Baltica project; it is also very import to continue the implementation of the gas interconnection project,” the Lithuanian foreign minister said.

Linkevičius is scheduled to visit Warsaw on January 20.

Asked about Lithuania’s cool relations with Poland, the minister told opposition lawmakers on Thursday that he would “do everything possible to reset” these ties.