Before sitting down at the negotiating table with EU leaders, the President met with the heads of government of the Nordic and Baltic countries.
During his meeting with the Baltic leaders, which was attended by Latvian Prime Minister Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš and Estonian Prime Minister Jüri Ratas, the President said that Lithuania was determined to increase its contribution to the EU budget to 1.11 percent of the EU's gross national income in order to ensure adequate funding for the EU strategic agenda as well as for traditional cohesion and agricultural policies. Gitanas Nausėda also presented arguments for the need to achieve complete convergence of direct payments to farmers in the European Union.
Views were exchanged on the proposal for funding the cohesion policy, military mobility package and smooth implementation of the Rail Baltica infrastructure project. The meeting of the Nordic and Baltic leaders focused on the size of the EU budget as well as on financial allocations for cohesion and agricultural policies. Although positions on the overall size of the budget and budgetary corrections diverged, the parties agreed to seek a fair and balanced EU budget, increase the focus on climate change, green energy and innovations across the region. It was also agreed that adequate funding was needed to deliver these goals.
The special meeting of the European Council will continue late into the night. On February 21, leaders will meet again for further negotiations.
