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Išbandyti
2013 04 05

Lithuanian foreign minister lists priorities: better ties with neighbors and progress in Belarusian political prisoners issue

Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius expects to improve the country's relations with neighbors and achieve progress in the settlement of the Belarusian political prisoner issue over the next year.
Linas Linkevičius
Linas Linkevičius / Luko Balandžio nuotr.

Linkevičius listed the foreign policy priorities during a discussion at the International Relations and Political Science Institute of Vilnius University on Thursday.

"Relations with neighbors – I would want this to stop being the problem it is today, so that we don't have to fight and search for ways of replying to each other," the minister said.

Asked about what would then be different in the relations with neighbors, he said: "We would do cooperative work."

"I will mention Poland. We haven't talked for a long time and now we are talking. We can already jointly turn to the European Union with certain initiatives, which was not possible for a long time. We've agreed with Poland and some others to go to countries of the Eastern Partnership program together," Linkevičius told journalists.

He also said he would want more progress in Belarus, which should not swerve from the European path.

"I'm talking about a political dialogue, about the situation with the political prisoners. Some of them are suffering under particularly humiliating circumstances. We understand it's not easy but we hope that our Belarusian colleagues comprehend the situation, we think and hope they will change their attitude," Linkevičius said.

The minister expressed hope that in a year "we'll be able to talk about constructive relations with Russia, not just confrontation."

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