2020-09-17 11:44 update: 2020-09-17, 19:42
Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki (L) and Lithuanian PM Saulius Skverrnelis (R). Fot. PAP/Radek Pietruszka
Cooperation between Poland and Lithuania will lead to better prospects for our citizens, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in Vilnius on Thursday.
Polish-Lithuanian consultations were held in Vilnius on Thursday under the leadership of the two countries' prime ministers, Mateusz Morawiecki and Saulius Skverrnelis, during which PM Morawiecki was accompanied by Deputy PMs Piotr Glinski, Jacek Sasin and Jadwiga Emilewicz as well as by the ministers of education, infrastructure, science, climate, defence, internal affairs and health.
"These consultations are an event to which we attach particular importance," Morawiecki said at the beginning of the meeting. "I would like them to serve agreement of positions on the most important current issues as well as on strategic subjects and all aspects of Polish-Lithuanian cooperation."
He said the consultations were confirmation that Poland and Lithuania have a period of partnership, which "we all wished for sooner and hope will last as long as possible." He added that through common actions in the bilateral and multilateral dimensions the two countries would better serve their interests within the EU and NATO.
Congratulating Lithuania on its containment of coronavirus, Morawiecki also referred to economic indicators that show Lithuania to be in first place in the EU with Poland in second. "We are a little jealous about that, but I think that the results for Lithuania and Poland will be entirely good," he said.
Referring to the current "difficult economic circumstances," the Polish PM highlighted the need for cooperation and the creation of new prospects, pointing to the development of infrastructure. He said joint road and rail projects opened up new economic prospects, specifying the Via Baltica and Rail Baltica routes in this regard, which he said his government was doing everything to accelerate so they would yield results soon.
Morawiecki also mentioned cooperation in electricity and gas transmission systems and expressed satisfaction that the two governments' good relations translated into support for Lithuanians in Poland and Poles in Lithuania.
He also mentioned the EU's mobility package, saying that Poland "also supports the Republic of Lithuania and we will fight for our rights because we believe the mobility package and all those directives concerning the limitation of service provision are flawed directives, leading in a bad direction limiting the scope of the freedom of the common European market and as such should be overturned." He went on to say that, like Lithuania, Poland would fight through the European Court of Justice for the rights of hauliers.
On the subject of the Three Seas initiative, grouping 12 countries lying between the Baltic, Black and Adriatic seas, Morawiecki expressed hope that it would develop Europe's North-South axis and create opportunities "from Scandinavia to the Balkans." (PAP)
