Press Releases

The EU must speak one voice in its external policy

Friday, July 1, Vilnius - President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, discussed EU's Eastern Partnership policy, EU's relations with Russia and Belarus, Lithuanian Chairmanship of OSCE and Presidency of the Community of Democracies, and the situation in North Africa and Syria.

"In its external policy, the European Union must speak one voice and its all members must be equally represented. If we stand united in external affairs, we will be more efficient in dealing with energy security and migration issues and more successful in building a stronger EU community and enhancing security of the region," the President of Lithuania said at the meeting.

According to the President, harmonized EU positions on external policies and external energy and trade issues as well as its internal solidarity in developing relations with European neighbors, partners and other states of the world would prevent any attempts from third countries to use energy as a tool for political pressure against individual members of the EU and would strengthen the EU's position in global politics as well as promote its global competitiveness.

The President also said Lithuania was very much concerned about energy security, therefore support from all EU Member States and institutions was very important both in negotiating with external energy suppliers and in implementing the Third Energy Package to ensure proper European financing for strategic electricity and gas projects and also in establishing a single EU energy market and in seeking to ensure application of the highest international safety standards in all nuclear power plants operating in the EU neighborhood.

Press Service of the President