Prime Minister and Lithuanian diplomats discuss Government priorities and foreign policy

Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania Ingrida Šimonytė has met with the heads of Lithuanian diplomatic missions to discuss Government priorities, and foreign and security policy. The Prime Minister has thanked the Lithuanian diplomatic service for its focus in the face of the pandemic and growing security challenges.

‘The role of the diplomatic service in addressing specific challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic has been and continues to be crucial’, said the head of Government.

The Prime Minister has noted that Government’s efforts have been largely concentrated on education and higher education reform, high value-added economy, digitalisation and start-ups, and the green deal. According to Ingrida Šimonytė, the Lithuanian diplomatic missions and the network of commercial attachés are instrumental in establishing international contacts in these fields.

The Prime Minister has pointed out new challenges for Lithuania posed by increasing migration flows artificially generated by Belarus’s regime and the deteriorating human rights situation in Belarus and Russia.

‘Our membership in the EU and NATO and the successful transformation of Lithuania make us feel the safest in the entire history of our country. On the other hand, we see the deteriorating security situation towards the east of Lithuania and the continuing Russia’s aggression, which prevents any attempts of reloading the EU-Russia relations’, said the Prime Minister.

According to the Head of the Government, a great number of Russian and Belarusian civil society activists have temporarily found their homes in Lithuania after they had simply been expelled from their homes.

‘We feel a moral obligation to help them. Therefore, we will continue to support the civil societies of Russia and Belarus, and we will continue to advocate on behalf of the EU Eastern Partnership countries in the European Union and elsewhere’, said Ingrida Šimonytė.

The Prime Minister has also emphasised the need to step up transport and energy projects linking Lithuania with Western Europe, also to block the unsafe Astravyets NPP – a threat to the entire European community.

The Prime Minister has also pointed out the need to strengthen trade relations and cultural exchanges with the South-East Asian region, and the importance to proceed with active economic and cultural diplomacy.