EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Lithuania

"The attention of the EU Presidency is very important to us and vital to the full and effective application of the European arrest warrant," is stated in the letter of Azubalis to Bodskov sent on 13 January.

Denmark has announced its support to the initiatives of Lithuania and to the declaration signed together with Austria, in which the country undertakes to make practical steps to limit or withdraw the statements made under Article 32 of the Framework Decision on the European arrest warrant. It is possible that the statement has become one of the reasons why last summer Austria did not extradite to Lithuania the detained suspect in the January 13th case Michail Golovatov. "It is absolutely unacceptable that criminals, suspected for the crimes against humanity and placed under the European arrest warrant, might freely travel in the Schengen area," Azubalis stressed.

He also drew attention to the positive attitude expressed by a large majority of the Member States towards the European Commission's proposal to withdraw the declarations made under Article 32 of the Framework Decision on European arrest warrant, which do not allow to implement fully the European arrest warrant procedures.

"I trust that we will not lose this successful momentum and will be able to push forward the above mentioned question during the Danish Presidency. I am sure that the strengthening of the European arrest warrant, along with the other instruments of extradition and mutual legal assistance, are crucial measures to ensure our common security," Azubalis wrote.