Minister Grabar-Kitarović on official visit to Lithuania

During her official visit to Lithuania, Minister Grabar-Kitarović met with Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus. The two expressed satisfaction with the good bilateral relations and the conditions that enable the two countries to intensify and expand their co-operation, as was this official visit by Minister Grabar-Kitarović. Minister Grabar-Kitarović said that Croatia appreciated Lithuania’s support for its Euro-Atlantic ambitions. President Adamkus and Minister Grabar-Kitarović also discussed the multilateral co-operation. Expressing support for Lithuania’s Human Rights Council candidacy, Minister Grabar-Kitarović thanked Lithuania for its support for Croatia’s candidacy for the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) and Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

During the meeting with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekunas, Minister Grabar-Kitarović thanked for the support Lithuania is offering Croatia in its process of acceding to the Euro-Atlantic integration. The Croatian side expressed interest in exchanging the experiences in preparing for joining the EU and NATO. Both sides confirmed the existence of good bilateral relations between the two countries, with the ministers also discussing the continuation of the co-operation within international multilateral organisations. In that regard, Minister Grabar-Kitarović expressed hope on the Croatian side for the continuation of the co-operation among the US-Charter members (A3 Initiative) and the three Baltic countries (B3), as was the case during the meeting of the foreign and defence ministers in Brijuni in April this year. Within the context of Croatia’s acceding to the Euro-Atlantic integration, Minister Grabar-Kitarović pointed out that Croatia expects the NATO summit in Riga to send a strong, clear, and encouraging signal on the future membership perspectives. Minister Grabar-Kitarović and Minister Vaitiekunas also talked about the regional co-operation, with Minister Grabar-Kitarović emphasising that the issue highly ranks among Croatia’s political priorities. In that regard, she pointed out that Croatia wishes to continue having a constructive role on the further stabilisation of the South Eastern Europe through enhancing the bilateral relations with the neighbours and the overall regional co-operation, especially through its SEECP presidency.

Minister Grabar-Kitarović also met with President of the Lithuanian Parliament Viktoras Muntianas, informing him about the current events in Croatia’s EU and NATO accession and the Communication Strategy for informing the public about the European integration and the informative activities that are being conducted. The two arranged a co-operation between the two countries’ parliaments with the aim of an all-inclusive exchange of technical experiences on a parliamentary level.

Minister Grabar-Kitarović visited the Vilnius University, the oldest university in that part of Europe, where she met with its Head, Benediktas Joudka, professors and students of the Croatian language. The Croatian language course has been running at the Vilnius University for 10 years now, and is being attended this year by 12 students. During the meeting, Minister Grabar-Kitarović pointed out that it is the science of a language and culture that the bridge of the co-operation between two countries is being built upon. Minister Grabar-Kitarović ceremoniously unveiled at the Vilnius University the bust of Croatian poet Marko Marulić.