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Asta Skaisgirytė, an adviser to the head of state, called the proposals submitted last week as a “step forward,” but said Lithuania still hopes to receive additional support.
He expressed such a position after the President’s meeting with the heads of different ministries to discuss Lithuania’s position in the negotiations.
“It may take two meetings, the second meeting has not yet been discussed. However, it is believed that it could happen before autumn,” A. Skaisgiryt told reporters on Tuesday.
“The goal is to conclude negotiations this year so that the money can be used next year, especially for countries affected by the pandemic,” he said.
The President of the European Council, who updated the draft budget of the European Union last week, proposed to leave Lithuania compensation for the losses caused by emigration.
The draft leaves the provision that compensation for countries with a large population will be calculated by multiplying the difference in population by 500 euros, which means that Lithuania would receive an additional 180 million euros in the cohesion budget. euros
This amount would somehow alleviate the sharp drop in European structural support from 2021 onwards.
The new draft also proposes changes to co-financing to ease pressure on national budgets, with EU funding of up to 85%. project amount, previously the maximum amount was 75 percent.
The new project remains unchanged due to direct payments to farmers, leaving the same amounts for the closure of the Ignalina nuclear power plant and the Königsberg transit scheme.
A. Skaisgirytė stated that this proposal is slightly better than the last project.
“It just caught our eye then. Certainly, there are points that we can be proud of, but incompletely, because there are still certain contractual obligations that have not been taken into account, which we will discuss in Brussels, ”said A. Skaisgirytė.
“Cohesion funds are very important to us. Our argument that emigration must be taken into account, in other words, the depopulation rate, we hope you will take this into account in our argument. In addition, rural development and direct payments to farmers (…), we would like more money, ”said the president’s adviser.
EU leaders will also discuss the € 750 billion summit. European Recovery Fund. It has 500 million. € 250 million in grants and € 250 million in euro loans Lithuania is offered € 3.9 billion. € 2.4 billion in grants and € 2.4 billion in euro loans
Finance Minister Vilius Šapoka stated that, in terms of long-term financial perspectives, it is necessary to ensure adequate financing of major infrastructure projects and compliance with EU obligations related to the closure of the nuclear power plant in Ignalina and the Kaliningrad transit system.
“How important are the intermediate achievements, the depopulation principle is reaffirmed and I do not think it will be easy in those negotiations because the moment is special, the economic crisis is in the entire EU (…) There is very little time and it will certainly be very tense”. , – said V. Šapoka.
Speaking about the recovery fund, the minister said the funds should be distributed according to “fair criteria,” but did not detail them.
“In general, the resuscitation instrument is necessary and its scope is really positive.” The most important thing here is that these funds are distributed according to fair criteria and that the certainty about how much money a country will receive should be significantly greater than that. current proposal, “said the minister.
The European Council is scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
According to A. Skaisgirytė, at this meeting G. Nausėda will also raise the issue of Russia’s revisionist policy to justify Soviet crimes and rehabilitate the Soviet-Nazi pact on the eve of World War II.
“The president is very concerned about historical policy and will speak to all EU leaders about these negative trends,” he said.
The Baltic states are strongly protesting the bill before the Russian Parliament, which seeks to reverse the decision made by the People’s Deputies of the USSR in 1989 to declare the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact legally unjustified and invalid.
In Russia, amendments to the Constitution have also been introduced, including a provision that defends “historical truth” and avoids “undermining the importance of popular exploits in defending the Fatherland.”
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