New appointments in the Baltics

  • 2001-05-31
Eric Gerada-Azzopardi, Malta's new ambassador to Lithuania, presented his credentials to President Valdas Adamkus on May 16.

Adamkus noted that the two countries should exchange more visits to reinforce and expand their legal cooperation base. The president said that the agreement to avoid double taxation signed on May 17 was a step in the right direction. Until now Lithuania and Malta have a single bilateral pact on lifting visa requirements.

Gerada-Azzopardi, 62, was previously employed at Malta's embassies to Italy, Great Britain and Sweden. During his term in office as a diplomatic envoy to Lithuania he will permanently reside in Stockholm.

Lithuania and Malta established diplomatic relations in February 1994.

Lithuania's exports to Malta amounted to 692,000 litas ($173,000) last year, while imports from the Mediterranean country reached 1.4 million litas.

Portugal's new ambassador to Lithuania, Jose de Freitas Ferraz, took office in Vilnius on May 16.

Presenting his credentials to President Valdas Adamkus, de Freitas Ferraz said he was determined to seek that his mission contributed to the deepening of mutual relations between the two countries.

The president thanked the new ambassador for Portugal's support of Lithuania's European Union and NATO aspirations, expressing hope that the Iberian country will actively share its experience in trans-Atlantic integration.

The ambassador will reside in the Danish capital of Copenhagen.

De Freitas Ferraz, 51, has been a diplomat at Portuguese embassies to the United States, Mozambique and Spain, as well as at the country's permanent representation to the European Community in Brussels.

Over the first nine months of 2000, Lithuania's exports to Portugal amounted to $9.13 million, three times more than the same period a year earlier. Lithuania's imports reached $7.18 million (up by 35.1 percent year-on-year) during the same period.