Lithuania’s President visits NATO
Lithuania’s President Mrs Dalia Grybauskaite met with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen to discuss various topics on NATO’s agenda, such as operations and the debate on a new Strategic Concept.
The NATO Secretary General expressed his appreciation for Lithuania’s important contribution to NATO-led operations, especially in Afghanistan. “Lithuania’s important contribution to the ISAF mission is widely recognised, where it leads a Provincial Reconstruction Team in the geographical difficult region of Chaghcharan”, Mr Rasmussen said.
On Russia, the Secretary General said that the priority for the NATO-Russia relationship now was to work on common security challenges. Recently, the Allies decided to restart the political engine of the NATO Russia Council, but this does not imply a change in NATO’s position on contentious dossiers, like enlargement, Georgia or missile defence; however, NATO is creating an opportunity to improve relations which will benefit all members and Russia.
On the issue of the new Strategic Concept, President Grybauskaite said Lithuania would actively “and creatively” participate in the debate that will be launched soon by the Group of Experts that was tasked to lead the process of developing a new Strategic Concept.