"Successful history of relations between Lithuania and Belgium started in the interwar period. Today our partnership continues to expand: economic ties are growing stronger, we are closely cooperating in international organizations, and Belgian fighter jets are now protecting the Baltic airspace," the President said.
She pointed out that successful bilateral cooperation with Belgium will be further developed. Lithuania and Belgium enjoy intensive trade with increasingly growing volumes - a 21 percent growth was recorded in the first half of this year alone. Last year's trading volume with Belgium amounted to 3.3bn litas. Lithuania has signed agreements with Belgium's two regions - Flanders and Wallonia - on cooperation in the fields of innovation, transport, culture, education, and tourism.
The President underscored the importance of the Belgian-Lithuanian partnership in international organizations - both countries collaborate closely within the EU and NATO. Belgium supports Lithuania's aspirations to join the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Lithuania's bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
Among the other points of discussion was the economic situation in Europe. King Philippe is also concerned about social issues and closely follows youth unemployment. Views were exchanged on how the European institutions could contribute to creating more opportunities and better conditions for young people to find jobs and for employers to hire more young specialists.
The President and the King exchanged views on today's global security challenges. The President stressed that with new emerging security threats, it was crucial to find new ways to overcome these challenges. Lithuania and Belgium successfully cooperate in NATO -Belgian Air Force protected the Baltic skies when Lithuania joined the Alliance. On September 3, Belgium began its third air policing mission in Lithuania.
The first results of the Lithuanian EU Presidency were reviewed. According to the President, while Lithuania has yet a lot of work to do in coordinating different positions of the EU member states and addressing the problems encountered by Europe, many tasks have already been accomplished: the Council has reached an agreement on the EU's budget for 2014, free-trade negotiations with the United States are underway, and a number of other issues have been settled.
