Lithuanian Foreign Ministry made condition for Belarusian authorities – concrete reforms

The Lithuanian leadership expects Belarus to respect for democratic principles.

The European Union is ready to make further steps in the development of the EU-Belarus dialogue, if Belarus demonstrated its will for such a dialogue by concrete actions of creating a civil society and respect for democratic principles, foreign minister of Lithuania Vygaudas Ušackas said on August 24 during a meeting with Belarusian foreign minister Syarhei Martynau.

As the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania reports, the meeting was held within the frames of Ušackas’s two-day visit to Belarus on August 24–25. The Lithuanian minister emphasized that a dialogue and concrete cooperation were important for both Belarus and the European Union, BelaPAN reports.

Ušackas thinks that cooperation between Lithuania and Belarus can be intensified also by the bilateral agreement between Lithuania and Belarus on the facilitation of travels for the residents of border areas. “I hope that after this agreement is signed, cooperation between the two neighbouring countries will expand, people-to-people ties will strengthen and more possibilities for economic cooperation will appear. Our compatriots living on the border with Belarus will be the main beneficiaries of this agreement,” he said.

Ušackas had meetings with representatives from the local administration and discussed the issues of intensifying bilateral relations and cooperation in the areas of culture, preservation of the heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, joint academic projects, tourism, business and people-to-people ties.

According to Ušackas, Lithuanian-Belarusian business forum on 16–17 September in Vilnius will open new perspectives for mutually beneficial economic cooperation, also in the area of transport.

Visiting the places of historical and cultural heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in Lida, Navahrudak, Mir and Nesvizh, Ušackas suggested discussing a possibility to establish a joint forum of historical memory, to open up prospects of cooperation between the national museums of art of Lithuania and Belarus, aiming at the restoration and conservation of the objects of heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The list of joint projects could include a guide for travelling along the roads of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Minister Ušackas stressed that in order to implement such projects, it was important to attract the funds of the European Union.