Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro is participating at the Inter-Parliamentary Conference for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy, being held in Vilnius, in the period 4-6 September 2013.

During the gathering, the opening remarks were made by Prof Benediktas Juodka, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania and Mr Artūras Paulauskas, Chair of the Committee on National Security and Defence of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. During the introductory session, the participants were also addressed by H.E. Ms Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of the Republic of Lithuania, Dr Vydas GEDVILAS, Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania and Mr Elmar BROK, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament

Following that, Mr Linas Linkevičius, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania had a presentation on “Promoting democracy in a wider Europe: ideas and instruments”, while Mr Juozas OLEKAS, Minister of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania spoke on Lithuanian priorities in the context of upcoming meeting of the European Council.

During the presentation, one of the topics was the importance of strengthening the mechanisms of common foreign and security policy and common security and defence policy in line with the competences contained in the Lisbon Treaty, through promotion of the cooperation with neighbours, strengthening of the East Partnership and active promoting of protection and improvement of human rights at the international level. A particular reference was made to the need of strengthening coordination within the European Union in the concerned field and it was pointed out to the importance of strengthening transatlantic relations with the aim of efficient addressing the present security challenges

Speaking of the common foreign and security policy, participants of the conference pointed out that during last years peace had been dominating in Europe, but that events in Africa and the Middle East reminded of the fact that only a strong common foreign and security policy can help in resolving the current crisis in this part of the world. With regard to that, a special attention was paid to condemning the use of chemical weapons.

Baroness Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy spoke on priorities and strategies of common foreign and security policy and the common security and defence policy, emphasising the importance of improving cooperation with partners, efficiency in using existing capacities as well as  providing help for the process of building institutions in transitional societies – as important step towards the establishment and maintenance of a functional democracy. In addition, she pointed out to the need of focusing on the conflict prevention and importance of the existence of political dialogue and comprehensive approach in solving the crisis in Syria and other parts of the world.

Meetings of political groups of the European Parliament were also held within the conference

MPs Miodrag Vuković PhD, Obrad Mišo Stanišić, Vasilije Lalošević and Milan Knežević are participating in the work of the gathering.

The continuation of the conference is tomorrow.