Visits

30 September 2011 Working visit by President Dalia Grybauskaitė to Warsaw

President Dalia Grybauskaitė attended the Eastern Partnership Summit in Warsaw where prospects for cooperation between the European Union and six Eastern European states - Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, and Azerbaijan - as well as further actions to accelerate reforms in EU's Eastern neighboring countries and their integration into Europe were discussed.

Speaking at the plenary session, President Dalia Grybauskaitė underlined the need to speed up the process of visa liberalization, adding that the same standards should be applied to all neighbors in Eastern Europe.

"Visa liberalization process for the Eastern Partnership countries should not be slower than for Russia. The same requirements should be applied to all Eastern neighbors, not double standards," the President said.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė stressed that Lithuania actively upheld Ukraine's goal to sign a free-trade agreement and the aspirations of Georgia and Moldova to start negotiations for such agreements. The attaining of such goals, the President said, directly depends on the efforts of these countries to speed up internal reforms.

The President urged the Eastern Partnership countries to act unanimously on their path to achieving common goals because the single voice of all partners would be better heard and their interests - better understood.

Visa liberalization, development of democracy, economic cooperation, energy security, promotion of mobility, and intercommunication were the issues discussed at the meeting.

The summit of the European Union and Eastern Partnership countries in Warsaw was the second such meeting over the Eastern Partnership's lifetime. The first meeting during which the Eastern Partnership program was agreed was held on 7 May 2009 in Prague. Such meetings of the heads of states are organized every two years. The next meeting is scheduled for 2013 when Lithuania is going to hold EU's presidency.

Press Service of the President