EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Lithuania

Photo: urm.lt

The Speaker of the Seimas (Parliament) of Lithuania, who pays an official visit to Croatia, delivered a congratulatory speech, stressing that the 1st of July marked the beginning of Lithuania’s Presidency and Croatia’s accession to the European Union, which would bring the two countries closer.

The Croatian Foreign Minister welcomed Lithuania’s decision to open the Office of the Lithuanian Embassy to Austria in Zagreb and underlined that the Office of the Croatian Embassy to Sweden would soon be opened in Vilnius.

Gedvilas conferred the highest award of Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Lithuanian Diplomacy Star – on the Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs for personal efforts to promote bilateral relations.

The Speaker of the Seimas congratulated Pusić and underscored Croatia’s role in strengthening the European aspirations of the Western Balkan countries and in sharing the experience of the European integration in the region.

“Today, Croatia is the rising star of the Western Balkans, in a month’s time the country is joining the European Union and will be leading other countries in the region,” Gedvilas said in the capital city of Croatia.

Representatives from the Croatian Parliament, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, members of the delegation led by the Speaker of the Seimas, the Ambassadors of the Nordic and Baltic States to Croatia, and media representatives also attended the ceremony.

The Lithuanian diplomat working at the new Office of the Embassy will help to ensure that the Presidency of the EU Council pays constant attention to Croatia, will represent Lithuania’s interests and will carry out other Presidency related functions.

This step will also be a significant contribution to furthering the bilateral relationship, which is extremely close if compared to relations with other Western Balkan countries. The Office will not carry out consular functions.