Andrius Kubilius has noted that the statements by the New York Times implicating that the Lithuanian Prime Minister accused the Central Intelligence Agency of employing “Soviet methods” do not correspond with the truth. In fact, the Prime Minister mentioned “Soviet methods” while speaking about the actions of the Lithuanian security services when establishing CIA detention centres on the Lithuanian territory, with the Lithuanian security services allegedly not informing the Lithuanian civil authorities about their actions and thereby violating existing laws. The Lithuanian Prime Minister made the above-mentioned statement while expressing his comments on findings issued by the parliamentary investigation on the so-called CIA prisons. Andrius Kubilius has noted that the New York Times did ...

Seimas has adopted the 2010 budget today. The Government had approved on measures to cut budget expenditure and raise the revenue, which resulted in cutting the budget deficit by more than LTL 2 billion (down to LTL 4,930 million, or 5.9% of GDP).

Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius has met today with President elect of the European Council Herman van Rompuy, who is on his visit to Lithuania. The Prime Minister has congratulated van Rompuy on his appointment to the newly created high-profile post of the permanent President of the European Council, intended to streamline the decision-making process in the Council and enhance the EU’s role in the world. The Prime Minister has expressed his delight at the fact that this significant post had been awarded to the member of the European Conservatives, the European People’s Party.

Tomorrow, right after the Government sitting, Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius leaves for an official visit to London, capital of the United Kingdom and a major financial centre for international business in Europe. The purpose of the visit of the Prime Minister, who is also accompanied on the visit by Minister of Finance Ingrida Šimonytė, is to provide update information for potential investors on the current actions of the Lithuanian Government for overcoming the consequences of the financial and economic crisis, favourable business conditions and attractive strategic investment projects.

On Friday, Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius attended a meeting with the members of the association American Chamber of Commerce and an overview of the Lithuanian economic and financial situation. The new U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania Anne Elizabeth Derse was present too. In his speech “Lithuania before, during and after the Recession”, the Prime Minister statistically grounded the reasons why the Baltic economies as some experts claim were hit the hardest, as well as for the effects of the global downturn in the world, where not only Lithuania and other Baltic countries, but also many EU economies went back to the 2006 level.

The Prime Minister of Lithuania Mr. Andrius Kubilius, the Prime Minister of Estonia Mr. Andrus Ansip and the Prime Minister of Latvia Mr. Valdis Dombrovskis met within the framework of the Baltic Council of Ministers on 5-6 November in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Yesterday, the European Commission published its autumn economic forecasts updating the outlook for the EU area aggregate and providing the assessment of measures taken by each separate member state to overcome the economic downturn. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – one of the main macroeconomic indicators – is projected by the European Commission to decline by 18.1% in our country this year, and 3.9% next year. Export of goods and services is estimated to come down by 20.6% this year; but next year it is expected to go up by 1.3%. In its conclusions, the European Commission commends the Lithuanian Government for the decisive steps taken to tame the recession.

Tomorrow, during the meeting of the Baltic Council of Ministers to be held in Vilnius Town Hall, the three Baltic Prime Ministers will discuss collaborative efforts to combat the current economic and financial crisis, as well as cooperation on energy, climate change and national security.