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President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė and members of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs discussed Lithuania‘s preparedness for the Presidency of the European Union and for the Chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, as well as Lithuania‘s relations with neighboring countries.

"The success of Lithuania‘s Presidency of the European Union and the OSCE Chairmanship will depend on whether the initiatives that have already been started turn out to be efficient and whether good and concrete results are achieved. Lithuania must assess clearly its capacities and resources. The budget earmarked for the Presidency and the Chairmanship must be distributed efficiently and in a target-focused manner, and not for too many different and expensive events," President Dalia Grybauskaitė said.

According to the President, as we are making preparations for the Presidency of the EU, we must mobilize institutional resources of all ministries and other responsible authorities, train professional and competent staff, and develop a clear strategy of the Presidency.

One of the key priorities of Lithuania‘s Chairmanship of the OSCE, the President said, is the consolidation of democratic values in the OSCE area, including free and fair elections in the region and the neighboring states. The President also stressed that in this Chairmanship Lithuania will be guided by the principles of openness, continuity and transparency.

Lithuania will hold the OSCE Chairmanship in 2011 and the European Union's Presidency in the second half of 2013 together with Greece and Ireland.