On 9 April in Riga, foreign ministers of the Baltic States discussed preparations for the informal meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers on 22-23 April in Tallinn and exchanged opinions regarding NATO’s new Strategic Concept.
During the informal meeting of the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian foreign ministers – respectively, Audronius Ažubalis, Māris Riekstiņš and Urmas Paet - joint representative from the Baltic States to the Group of Experts on NATO’s new Strategic Concept, Ambassador Aivis Ronis presented the process of the preparation of the Concept.
The ministers expressed trust that NATO’s new Strategic Concept will reflect the interests of the Baltic States.
The ministers touched upon the issues of cooperation in the area of energy. Minister A.Ažubalis said that when planning new energy projects in our region, particularly those related to nuclear power, the highest international safety and environmental protection standards must be strictly respected.
When discussing the issues of strengthening the cooperation between the Baltic States and Nordic countries, the ministers supported the suggestion of A.Ažubalis to establish a wise men group that would analyze and make recommendations to the governments on the ways to enrich the cooperation among these countries that enjoy close relations.
The progress in this area will be reviewed during the meeting of Baltic and Nordic foreign ministers in August this year in Latvia.
In Riga, the coordination of positions of the Baltic States on topical EU issues was also discussed. The Ministers agreed to further coordinate actions aiming at an appropriate representation of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia at the European External Action Service that is currently being created.
On the same day, Ministers A.Ažubalis and M.Riekstiņš exchanged diplomatic notes regarding the consular representation when issuing Schengen visas.
Under this agreement, the Embassy of Lithuania in Buenos Aires will represent Latvia in Argentina when issuing Schengen visas and, respectively, the Embassy of Latvia in Tashkent will represent Lithuania in Uzbekistan. The Agreement enters into force from the date of exchange of notes.
The Consulate General of Lithuania in Kaliningrad already represents Denmark and Estonia when issuing Schengen visas to residents of Kaliningrad, who travel to these countries.
Ministry of foreign affairs of the Republic of Lithuania
14.04.2010