Lietuva in brief - 2010-04-14

President Dalia Grybauskaite has given much importance to the fact that the United States has chosen Lithuania its main partner for promotion of women’s rights and gender equality worldwide, and stated that Lithuania will put every effort to ensure successful work of the Gender Equality Working Group of the Community of Democracies and development of its activities, reports ELTA. On April 12, the president participated in the convening meeting of the newly-established group. Before the sitting, Grybauskaite received U.S. Ambassador-at-Large Mellane Verveer. According to the president, it is very important that the group would initiate specific projects such as promotion of women’s leadership in Afghanistan, women’s entrepreneurship in Belarus, Ukraine and Kaliningrad.

During bilateral consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania and Austria on April 9 in Vienna, Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Asta Skaisgiryte Liauskiene discussed energy security, bilateral cooperation in the area of energy and the most important issues on the European Union’s agenda, reports ELTA. The vice-minister met with Secretary-General of Austria’s Foreign Ministry, Johannes Kyrle, and Reinhard Mang, Secretary General of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Environment and Water Management. On the subject of energy security and new energy projects, the vice-minister stressed that “when planning new energy projects in our region, particularly those related to nuclear power, the highest international safety and environmental protection standards must be strictly respected.” According to Liauskiene, regular exchange of information and comprehensive public information are key principles for cooperation.