President Nausėda and King Carl XVI Gustaf discussed rich and shared history of Lithuania and Sweden, economic partnership, the development of people-to-people and business relations. The King of Sweden was among the first to pay a visit to Lithuania when its independence was re-established.
“It is symbolic that my first visit is taking place when Lithuania and Sweden mark the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 30th anniversary of their re-establishment. Lithuania and Sweden enjoy excellent bilateral bond and intense economic partnership as well as cooperation in the areas of security and defense. The leaders of the neighboring country and I agreed on further development of relations based on democratic values,” Gitanas Nausėda said.
At the meeting with Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven, the President discussed bilateral cooperation, strengthening of economic ties, Nordic-Baltic relations, and the situation in Belarus and Russia. The President of Lithuania thanked for Sweden’s contribution in enhancing Lithuania’s energy independence. He underscored the importance of Sweden’s position to the Belarus civil society in fighting against the regime, as well as matters related to the protection of the EU’s Eastern borders and the management of illegal migration flows. Particular attention was paid to the safety of the Ostravets nuclear power plant and to ensuring the non-purchase of electricity from unsafe nuclear power plants.
High-tech is an important area of cooperation and economic relations with Sweden. The possibility of more intense cooperation in the areas of IT, life sciences and biotechnology, global services, manufacturing technologies, and fintech was discussed.
The meeting with the Speaker of the Riksdag, Andreas Norlén, discussed parliamentary cooperation between Lithuania and Sweden as well as challenges to regional security. Human rights situation in the EU neighborhood and the policy of Eastern Partnership were also in the focus.
