Lithuania expects constructive cooperation with new US administration

  • 2021-01-07
  • BNS/TBT Staff

VILNIUS, Jan 07, BNS – As the US Congress certified the final presidential election results following the recent unrest on Thursday, Lithuania expects constructive cooperation with the administration of US President-elect Joe Biden.

Asta Skaisgiryte, chief adviser to President Gitanas Nauseda on foreign policy issues, says outgoing US President Donald Trump has shown attention to the Baltic states and the region.

"We expected the same from President-elect Biden. (…) We expect very constructive cooperation, especially in the areas of security and defense economy," she told journalists on Thursday.

"Our relationship with the US is important for us, and it's been very close during President Trump's term," she said.

The adviser also reminded that President Nauseda congratulated US President-elect Biden soon after the presidential election and also invited him to come to Lithuania.

According to Skaisgiryte, there are signs that the new US administration is inclined to talk to the EU about "certain agreements".

"We believe that Biden will pay a lot of attention to international organizations, the European Union. There are certain signs already of the wish to talk to the EU and get back to the negotiating table regarding certain agreements. So we really hope it will be a good, positive chapter in our cooperation with the US," Skaisgiryte said.

In her words, Lithuanian diplomats and Biden's future representatives are now working on the Belarusian issue as well.

"The goal is to bring the US back to those topics that are important for us, including the Eastern Partnership, Eastern Europe, and also Belarus," the presidential adviser said.

"We do hope that America, like Lithuania, will support Belarus' democratic society and its wish to become free people, a free society, and we are already working together in this direction," she said.

On Thursday, the Congress certified Biden's victory in last year's presidential election but did so later than planned due to Trump's supporters who stormed the Capitol.

The chaos and violence they sparked has been condemned all over the world, and the Lithuanian president said that the US took its "exam of the rule of law".

In such old democracies like the United States, power should be transferred peacefully and without any bloodshed, Nauseda said.

Biden's inauguration is scheduled for January 20. Having denied the election and his defeat, Trump promised "orderly transition of power" after his supporters stormed the Capitol.