Dalia Grybauskaitė, who is on an official visit to Poland, met with Sejm Speaker Marek Kuchcinski on Thursday. Among the topics that came up during the conversation were cooperation at the parliamentary level between the Sejm and Seimas, security, energy, and the 450th anniversary of the Union of Lublin, which falls in 2019.
Marshal Kuchcinski stressed the importance of continuing the policy of the late Lech Kaczynski, which was to bring Poland, Lithuania and other countries in our part of Europe closer together. - The intensification of meetings is the best proof that we are rebuilding our cooperation. For our part, we will develop various forms of cooperation as soon as possible. They are already yielding results, for example, we look at security issues very similarly, such as the presence of NATO troops. From the perspective of our history since the 14th century, or from the perspective of the Union of Lublin, the necessity of Polish-Lithuanian cooperation is apparent. As we used to say, when we were together we were the greatest force in Europe," said Marek Kuchcinski.
The Lithuanian president also mentioned Lech Kaczynski, with whom, she stressed, she met very regularly. - As many as four times during the last eight months of his presidency. These were very good relations. Poland and Lithuania have the same outlook on defense policy, economic and energy issues. We can solve many problems together," President Grybauskaitė noted. - Also our interests with regard to Nord Stream 2, which will make Europe dependent on Russia. That is why we support each other in talks with NATO and the EU," the Lithuanian politician added.
The Speaker of the Seimas expressed his warm thanks to the President of Lithuania for the initiative of the Ministers of Culture of both countries, who, together with other ministers of Central European countries, submitted a proposal to UNESCO to include the Lublin Union on the list of world heritage. The Speaker of the Sejm also noted that -we are developing cooperation between the parliaments of all Central Europe. We have applied to join the Parliamentary Assembly of the Baltic States. - We believe that this is an important element of cooperation, and we also support suggestions to establish a parliamentary dimension of the Trilateral. We look at the European Union through the prism of the need to strengthen it in every area," stressed Speaker Kuchciński.
The meeting was also attended by Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Beata Mazurek and head of the Sejm Chancellery Agnieszka Kaczmarska.

As a person of merit to the Lithuanian State, Marek Kuchcinski was awarded the Order "For Merit to Lithuania."

Photo by Rafał Zambrzycki

Photo by Marta Olejnik