Prime Minister Butkevičius: the opening of the Croatian embassy in Lithuania will strengthen the partnership between our countries

Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius met with the Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovič, who is visiting Lithuania, for the working lunch. At the meeting Butkevičius welcomed the opening of the Croatian embassy in Lithuania and discussed the bilateral relations in the fields of economic and energy cooperation with the Croatian President, as well as the partnership of Lithuania and Croatia in the European Union (EU) and NATO. 

“Your Excellency, I am very pleased to be able to meet with you during your visit in Lithuania. Our countries share a close partnership in the EU and NATO and together we stand for the principles of freedom, territorial sovereignty, and human rights”, said Prime Minister Butkevičius and noted that this year Lithuania and Croatia has marked the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations. 

“On this special occasion I would like to welcome the opening of the Croatian embassy in Lithuania. Without a doubt, this event will strengthen the cooperation between our countries and will provide the impetus for additional investment and also will encourage partnership in the fields of innovations, education and tourism”, noted the Head of Government Butkevičius. 

The Prime Minister pointed out that Lithuania is one of the most advanced Central and Eastern European countries in the field of life sciences and offering to consider the investment opportunities in this field more in detail invited the Croatian representatives to visit the biggest conference of life sciences in the region “Life Sciences Baltics“ in Vilnius in September 2016.

On energy, the Prime Minister has noted that Lithuania has successfully completed strategic projects in the gas and electricity sectors. “Klaipėda LNG terminal has started operating, and LitPol Link and NordBalt power links (with Poland and Sweden, respectively) have been built: these are historic steps that have consolidated energy independence of Lithuania and all the Baltic countries”, said the Head of Government and added that the next strategic objective is synchronisation of the Baltic power system with the European continental network.

Yet the Prime Minister has stressed that Lithuania is particularly concerned about the safety of a nuclear power plant that is being constructed in Astravets (Belarus), as well as Russia’s initiative to build Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The Prime Minister has pointed out that Astravets Nuclear Power Plant poses threat to the entire region, while Nord Stream 2 project contradicts the EU and Lithuania’s strategic objectives to reduce energy dependence from Russia.             

The meeting has also discussed cooperation between Lithuania and Croatia under the EU’s Twinning programme. On 14 December 2015, the Lithuanian and Croatian representatives launched a joint Twinning project “Support for setting up of the strategic planning system at national level”, which aims to assist the Croatian state institutions in the creation of the national strategic planning system by introducing an efficient document drafting and management system. This is the 13th joint project of Lithuania in Croatia.      

The Prime Minister has also emphasized that Lithuania had started the negotiation process on the accession to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Prime Minister believes that this will strengthen Lithuania’s competitiveness in the international markets, and Lithuania’s economy will gather momentum.