Foreign ministers of Latvia and Lithuania agree on need to strengthen cross-border co-operation

 

On 10 November 2006, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Foreign Minister Artis Pabriks met with the Foreign Minister of Lithuania, Petras Vaitekunas, and agreed on the need to strengthen cross-border co-operation and to convene the inter-governmental working group in this area which was formed as early as 1992.

Following a meeting and discussions by representatives of the border regions on 5 October this year, in the city of Liepaja, and which was dedicated to cross-border co-operation, the foreign ministers have informed the relevant sectoral ministries on the issues to be resolved, e.g., problems regarding the crossing of borders in the Latvian and Lithuanian border areas. They agreed that these problem issues should be addressed by the above-mentioned working group.

The ministers also agreed upon the necessity to research the existing energy resources in the Baltic Sea. They also acknowledged that the idea of a nuclear power station, at Ignalina, to be built by joint efforts of the three Baltic states should be further developed.  

The foreign ministers were united in the opinion that Rail Baltic is a very significant project for development of the infrastructure of the Baltic states and, therefore, requires additional detailed research work.

Mr Petras Vaitekunas informed Minister Pabriks that the Lithuanian Ministry of Education is preparing a strategy on the teaching of the Lithuanian language abroad. He promised to familiarise his Latvian colleagues with the project since both the Latvian and Lithuanian languages are most frequently taught together in foreign universities.

Discussions also included issues of co-operation within international organisations, the expanding of the Schengen area, emigration issues, and other current topics.

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