According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Linkevičius met with his Icelandic counterpart Ossur Skarphedinsson in Brussels on Monday and stressed the importance for Reykjavik to continue membership talks after the forthcoming general elections in late April.
"Following Iceland's accession to the family of EU member states, the Nordic-Baltic region's influence in Europe would be strengthened," the Lithuanian foreign minister said. "During the EU Presidency, Lithuania is ready to be as ambitious regarding Iceland's membership talks as Iceland itself is ready for it," Linkevičius said.
He also promised Iceland support of Lithuanian experts in transposing EU acquis in the field of public administration and regional policy into national law.
Iceland has launched talks on 27 out of 35 chapters. Talks on 11 chapters have been finished. In January, Iceland's parliament announced the decision to halt accession talks until the general elections in April.
