Preparations for negotiating the new EU multiannual budget was among the key issues on the meeting’s agenda. The President underlined that the initial proposal put forward by the Commission was unacceptable to Lithuania and many other countries. Lithuania seeks to make EU payments consistent with the level of development of member states in order to eliminate the existing economic and social differences between them.
President Dalia Grybauskaitė and EU ambassadors also reviewed measures to prevent illegal migration. According to the President, while migration flows have diminished, irregular migration remains a serious problem. Lithuania takes a consistent position that it is necessary to strengthen the protection of external borders, help countries outside the European Union from which illegal immigrants originate and speed up their return home. Lithuania has submitted a proposal on creating unified standards for the protection of external borders and closing the existing loopholes.
EU cooperation with NATO and ways of strengthening it were discussed. The President pointed out that the EU should bring additional value to NATO, where possible and without duplicating the Alliance, especially in dealing with problems of military mobility, countering cyber and hybrid threats.
At Lithuania’s initiative, a cyber rapid response force is in the make within the framework of EU’s permanent structured cooperation (PESCO). Six member states have already joined the project and more are planning to come in.
Lithuania is also actively engaged in the Netherlands-led PESCO military mobility project, which should receive 430 million euros from the new multiannual framework to remove all barriers hampering the mobility of military forces and equipment.
