Visits

Working visit by President Dalia Grybauskaitė to the Republic of Finland and the Republic of Estonia, 7-8 October 2009

President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė left for a working visit to Finland and Estonia.

In Helsinki, President Grybauskaitė met with Finland's President Tarja Halonen, Speaker of Parliament Sauli Niinistö, and Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen.

"Finland is a very important partner of Lithuania in strengthening cooperation with Nordic countries and Finnish experience in the field of energy and innovation is also very useful to Lithuania," the President of Lithuania said.

In the meeting with Finland's President Tarja Halonen, President Grybauskaitė discussed opportunities for Lithuanian-Finnish cooperation in implementing concrete projects, especially in the field of development of alternative energies. The two Presidents exchanged views on the NordStream project, underlying the need to make a thorough examination and assessment of the environmental impact of this project. Lithuanian and Finnish leaders also spoke out for further implementation of the EU Eastern Partnership Programme in developing relations with Europe's Eastern neighbours.

Answering questions for the Finnish media about construction of the new nuclear power plant in Lithuania, the President said that investors would be selected by way of public tendering procedure and invited Finnish businesspeople to contribute to the construction of the plant.

Asked to give an estimate of Lithuania's economic situation, the President answered that the sale of USD 1.5 billion worth of Lithuania's securities in international markets opened up every opportunity to overcome the downturn with Lithuania's own efforts, without recourse to assistance from the International Monetary Fund.

In the meeting with Finland's Speaker of Parliament Sauli Niinistö, the President discussed possibilities to strengthen bilateral inter-parliamentary relations.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė also met with Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen. In the meeting, the President underlined the need to create a common Baltic-Nordic energy market and to build an electricity bridge between the Baltic States and Finland. Finland's Prime Minister expressed support to Lithuania.

Among other issues discussed in the meeting was the process of ratification of the Lisbon Treaty in the European Union Member States and the preparedness of the Community for institutional reform.

As part of her working visit to Estonia, President Grybauskaitė met with Estonia's President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Speaker of Parliament (Riigikogu) Ene Ergma, and Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, in Tallinn.

In the meetings with Estonian leaders, the President discussed security issues, including participation of the Baltic States in formulating the new strategic concept of the North Atlantic Alliance.

"We have been in the European Union for five years already but we are still isolated in energy terms. We have to connect Baltic and Western European electricity networks as soon as possible and to create an open Baltic electricity market," President Dalia Grybauskaitė said in the meeting with Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves.

In the meeting, Lithuanian and Estonian leaders discussed Lithuanian-Estonian bilateral cooperation and the most important EU and NATO policy issues. The two Presidents agreed to take a common stand in the European Council with a view to promoting competitiveness in the EU energy market.

Both Presidents welcomed the progress and prospects of cooperation between the three Baltic states and the five Nordic countries, underlining that participation of the Baltic countries in developing the Baltic Sea Strategy will strengthen the role of the region within the European Union.

Concerning the new NATO strategy underway by the members of the Alliance, Lithuanian and Estonian Presidents confirmed that both countries would pursue the development of defence plans for the Baltic states and a clarification of Article 5 of the Washington Treaty to cover not only the concept of territorial defence but also equal commitments of NATO members to defend each other in the face of new threats.

In the meeting with Estonia's Speaker of Parliament Ene Ergma, President Grybauskaitė stressed the importance of activities of the Baltic Parliamentary Assembly and its cooperation with the Nordic Council.