Minister Soini's opening address in a press conference with Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs

Foreign minister Timo Soini's meeting with Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius on 23 October 2017.

  • I want to thank Minister Linas Linkevičius for visiting Finland. We have already met several times but it pleases me that we had this opportunity to have interesting, open and comprehensive bilateral discussions in Helsinki.
  • Both Finland and Lithuania celebrate one hundred years of independence this year and next year. Our bilateral relations are very good and economic cooperation is increasing.
  • In our discussions we touched upon current questions on the EU-agenda, focusing on Brexit and the development of European defence–cooperation including the Permanent Structured Cooperation.
  • I am also very pleased that Lithuania is a founding member of the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, which has been established here in Finland. This is a field, where cooperation between Finland and Lithuania will increase.
  • We also discussed international topics widely from Turkey to North Korea.