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Polish, Lithuanian presidents to discuss economy, security

PR dla Zagranicy
Alicja Baczyńska 17.02.2018 09:00
Polish President Andrzej Duda will meet his Lithuanian counterpart, Dalia Grybauskaite, on Saturday, to hold talks on economic collaboration and security in the region.
Agata Kornhauser-Duda, Dalia Grybauskaitė and Andrzej Duda. Photo: Jakub Szymczuk/KPRP.Agata Kornhauser-Duda, Dalia Grybauskaitė and Andrzej Duda. Photo: Jakub Szymczuk/KPRP.

“The president will discuss the Three Seas Initiative, with the key focus on infrastructural links,” presidential chief of staff Krzysztof Szczerski said. The Three Seas Initiative brings together 12 countries located between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas.

The initiative includes the so-called ‘energy bridge’, a power grid link between Poland and Lithuania, which opens both countries’ transmission grids to the Western European electricity network.

“The ‘energy bridge’ [linking Poland with Lithuania] is very important to Vilnius, while we want Lithuania to complete its investment in the rail and road network, so we can speak of Rail Baltica and Via Baltica in real terms,” Szczerski said.

Warsaw and Vilnius want the connection, operating since 2015, to pave the way for the synchronisation of the Baltic states’ energy networks with the rest of Europe.

On 14 February, Lithuania announced the final route of the planned Rail Baltica rail link spanning from Tallinn across the Baltic states to Warsaw.

Other issues on the agenda of talks included NATO’s eastern flank, allied troops stationed in both countries as well as prospects for the upcoming NATO summit in Brussels, which “must confirm and expand on the decisions taken at the [2016] NATO gathering in Warsaw, in terms of NATO’s presence in this part of Europe,” Szczerski said.

At an earlier meeting with the Polish diaspora on Thursday, President Andrzej Duda said he intended to discuss the situation of Poles based in Lithuania with his opposite number.

Saturday marks the final day of his and First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda’s visit to Lithuania.

Duda and other European leaders took part in Friday events marking the 100th anniversary of the signing of an Act of Reinstating the Independence of Lithuania in Vilnius.

The Polish leader also met European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier for talks in Vilnius on Friday. (aba)

Source: IAR, PAP

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