President of the Republic of Lithuania Pays Official Visit to the Slovak Republic

The President of the Republic of Lithuania, Valdas Adamkus, and his wife Alma Adamkiené paid an official visit to Slovakia.

After the bilateral negotiations the Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič considered the mutual relations between the countries as predominantly trouble-free. Slovakia sees Lithuania as a close partner, and is interested in the further development of relations – particularly in the areas of economy and trade. Ivan Gašparovič admitted that there were also some problems “but with respect to other areas – concerning economic or political issues. Economical issues are connected with the energy sector in which we both face almost identical problems regarding the decommissioning of nuclear power plants.” In the case of nuclear power plants, the Presidents did not rule out joint action within European structures, because they do not consider it a balanced approach to decommission energy sources at a time when the construction of new facilities is not completed, thus potentially exposing the countries to energy shortages.

In the field of politics, the Slovak President admitted some differences with the Lithuanian president as regards their views on the Kosovo issue. Their talks also dealt with the Treaty of Lisbon, as both partners agreed the document should be ratified by all of the EU Member States. If this is not the case, they think that the EU may face a great misunderstanding and threat. The Slovak and Lithuanian presidents also agreed in their opinions concerning the neighbourhood policy or EU enlargement.

Ivan Gašparovič was pleased to note that the foreign trade turnover between Slovakia and Lithuania has increased. He also confirmed interest in mutual cooperation between both countries’ educational and scientific institutions.

The talks also addressed the issue of the V4. Ivan Gašparovič stressed the important role of this group and the interest of the V4 countries in cooperating with the regional group of Baltic States – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. He added that “we can achieve more through joint action, particularly in relation to major EU countries.”
The Slovak President also spoke with Adamkus about the integration of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldavia in Euro-Atlantic structures.

As regards Lithuania’s effort to join the Eurozone, Adamkus said the decision to reject Lithuania by the European Commission in this respect was a great disappointment for his country – primarily because of the fact that he does not consider that one hundredth of an inflation percentage is a decisive argument for turning down Lithuania’s Eurozone entry, but rather a political decision.

Lithuanian President Adamkus also stressed the importance of balanced cooperation between the EU and Russia. Lithuania, as an immediate neighbour of the Russian Federation, wishes for friendly and good relations, including respect for sovereignty. He underlined that joint activities of both countries within the EU would represent “an opportunity in terms of building new structures, new stages of development, to become more engaged and to present ourselves in a broader scope.“ The Lithuanian President also commented: “Dear Mr. President, I hope this will be an opportunity for the peoples of our countries to get to know each other better. I would recommend intensifying exchanges in the area of tourism and between students and scientists to bring our cooperation to the next level.”