Baltic States – CIS, EU – Baltic States, EU – CIS, Legislation, Lithuania

The Ministers agreed that close bilateral cooperation was especially important in the run-up to Lithuania's forthcoming Presidency of the EU Council, which considered the development of the EU's Eastern Partnership initiative as one of its priorities. Linkevicius stressed that Lithuania would continue to consistently support the European integration aspirations of Ukraine and would share its experience of integration into the European Union.

The head of the Lithuanian diplomacy expressed hope that the priorities for Ukraine's OSCE Chairmanship agenda would continue in the same direction as the agendas of former Lithuanian and Irish OSCE Chairmanships.

Linkevicius also congratulated the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine on his 50th birthday.

Kozhara was appointed as Foreign Minister on 24 December. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs.