In his address, Deputy Minister Maciej Lang stressed that the meeting in the US capital will provide an opportunity to discuss current challenges facing the Alliance, such as Russia’s approach to the Organisation, the situation in the Black Sea and the fight against terrorism. “The main objective of the participants of the Washington summit will be to assure the public opinion in the transatlantic community that NATO remains strong, united and ready to address its challenges,” he added.   

During the meeting in Palanga, its participants discussed preparations for the NATO foreign ministers summit in Washington, the Slovak OSCE Chairmanship, transatlantic cooperation, cyber security, hybrid threats, and migration. The ministers also talked about issues falling under the competence of the UN and the Council of Europe, including the current state of human rights protection worldwide, global climate change, matters relating to oceans, and relations with China. The meeting in the Lithuanian Palanga also provided an opportunity to discuss relations with Russia and Ukraine, the development of the Eastern Partnership initiative and the future of the European Union.

The formula of meetings of heads of diplomacy of the four Visegrad Group countries, the five Nordic countries and the three Baltic countries, created on Poland’s and Sweden’s initiative, is a good platform for discussing issues that can strengthen cooperation between the Central and Northern European countries. The organiser of this year’s edition was Lithuania, Iceland which holds the presidency of the Nordic Council and Slovakia, which holds the presidency of the Visegrad Group.  

MFA Press Office

 

Photo MFA Lithuania