Belarussian cooperation forthcoming

2008-07-18
In cooperation with the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

VILNIUS- In the Å alÄininkai district on July 15, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Petras VaitiekÅ«nas met with mayor Leonardas Talmontas and discussed the preparedness of the district to use the funds of the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument for cross-border cooperation.

The use of these funds would encourage cooperation between Lithuania and Belarus as Å alÄininkai is the first EU town that visitors would enter from Belarus, adding an additional responsibility to the area.

Representatives from the Å alÄininkai district community and municipality showed interest in negotiations with Belarus, especially in the agreement on local border traffic, important for border residents.

P.VaitiekÅ«nas and the district mayor, found one of the possible fields of cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Å alÄininkai municipality might be the implementation of the development cooperation and democracy promotion projects. They also discussed the ways to promote cultural cooperation with Belarusian border area municipalities and the city of Lida, as well as the promotion of investment into the region.