Australia and Lithuania have agreed to strengthen our bilateral relationship, encourage more trade and investment and advance shared strategic interests during a visit by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, His Excellency Gabrielius Landsbergis.
During his visit to Australia from 8 to 10 February, Minister Landsbergis opened Lithuania’s first embassy in Canberra in an historic moment in our bilateral relationship that will facilitate broader and deeper cooperation.
Australia and Lithuania enjoy warm ties, underpinned by strong people-to-people links, and shared values of democracy, human rights, rule of law, gender equality and open markets.
Our two countries are firm supporters of multilateralism and free trade. Australia and Lithuania agreed to work together to finalise the Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement. We have also discussed ways to work through the United Nations and other multilateral organisations to preserve the integrity of the rules-based system of international governance and trade.
As a reflection of our strong bilateral relationship and our determination to work even more closely with countries that share our commitment to free and open trade, Australia will establish an Austrade presence in Vilnius.
We have also discussed existing and emerging international security threats and explored areas in which we can cooperate in response to shared strategic challenges, including economic coercion and threats to the sovereignty and resilience of all states.
Australia welcomes Lithuania’s growing footprint in the Indo-Pacific region, which will be further cemented by the opening of their new embassy and this important visit.
This is also a reinforcement of Australia’s close partnership with the European Union and its member states.
A joint statement between Minister Payne and Minister Landsbergis following today’s meetings is available here:
