New Lithuanian Prime Minister pays a visit

Take note – story published 7 years ago

Lithuania's new Prime Minister, Saulius Skvernelis, paid his first visit to Latvia January 12 for talks with Latvian counterpart Maris Kucinskis.

The paid said they had discussed a range of topics including energy and cooperation in border areas, but outlined slightly different positions on the introduction of compulsory military service.

Skvernelis said the two countries enjoyed "dynamic relations in both economic and cultural fields" and talked up the abilities of his country's Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal to supply all three Baltic states as well as northern Poland.

In the next couple of years, progress should be made to synchronize the Baltic states' electricity networks with the rest of the European grid, he added.

Lithuania's decision to reintroduce military conscription was the result of "a large wave of patriotism" that had appeared since Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, Skvernelis said, and would eventually lead to the establishment of a large, well-trained military reserve force to bolster Lithuania's defensive strength.

At this, Kucinskis interjected that Latvia was also experiencing a surge of patriotism, but that the country would stick with a fully voluntary and professional military, with "emphasis" placed on the development of the part-time National Guard.

Seen a mistake?

Select text and press Ctrl+Enter to send a suggested correction to the editor

Select text and press Report a mistake to send a suggested correction to the editor

Related articles

More

Most important