The aim of the report is to evaluate the cooperation to date, seek solutions to problems, outline the prospects for short-term and long term cooperation, as well as creating a new future vision for the development of relations between both countries. The document will be a source of ideas for further action by anyone whose work is related to strengthening Latvian-Lithuanian bilateral relations.
The release of the Report is a symbolic conclusion to a year significant for both countries: this year we mark the 20th anniversary since the restoration of diplomatic relations. In the course of elaborating the report, the authors talked to a number of public officials, politicians and cultural figures, and also listened to the border region residents sharing their perspective of the current situation in the relations between Latvia and Lithuania.
The discussion enabled drawing both on positive and negative experience, as well as identifying wishes and finding new ideas of how to promote an ever closer cooperation in all walks of life. The authors believe that one of the driving forces behind Latvian-Lithuanian cooperation could be the promotion of people-to-people contacts. The document proposes the establishment of a joint informational space as one of the instruments for facilitating cooperation.
Geographical location, belonging to the group of Baltic languages and historical links - all that forms a common basis with a significant impact on the relations between our countries. Therefore, notwithstanding a heated debate or one issue or another, Latvia and Lithuania are and will always remain close partners.
At the same time, the Report places the Latvian-Lithuanian relations in a broader context, as the countries have become part of regional, European or even global cooperation. Last year a similar report was drawn up on the cooperation with Estonia. The report’s Review Conference, this time devoted to the topics of education, will take place on 16 December this year in Tartu.
