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“It seems to me that it would be better to find a consensus between the president and the prime minister, perhaps sharing this role, in order to maximize the benefits for Lithuania.” … It should be a matter of agreement, especially given the importance of time, the important decisions that are being taken about the vaccine, the management of the pandemic and many other issues, “the head of parliament told News Radio on Wednesday.
According to her, according to the state structure, the country should be formally represented by the president in the EVS, but most of the other EU countries are represented at the Summit at the level of prime ministers.
When we look at other countries, out of the 27 EU countries, it appears that 23 prime ministers are representatives of EVS.
“(…) When we look at other countries, it seems that 23 prime ministers of the 27 EU countries are representatives of the EVS. And it is natural that the leader, the leader who has the most executive power, probably makes sense to him or her. she attend such meetings, ”said V. Čmilytė-Nielsen.
After Lithuania’s accession to the EU, both the president and the prime minister attended the summits for some time, but during the presidency of President Dalia Grybauskaitė, the tradition of the president attending the European Council was established.
The idea of the president being replaced by Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė at EU summits has been raised publicly in recent weeks by Matas Maldeikis and Jurgis Razma, members of the Union of the Homeland – Lithuanian Christian Democrats. They argue that the European Council is dominated by issues that fall within the government’s purview during a pandemic.
In an interview with BNS in November, Prime Minister I. Šimonytė said that she “sees no reason” to change Lithuania’s representation in the EU in the near future.
“I would say that this is not an issue that should be moved or changed in the near future, because there will be a lot to do for the government anyway,” the prime minister said at the time.
I would say that this is not the topic that needs to be moved or changed in the near future.
Asta Skaisgirytė, adviser to President G. Nausėda on foreign policy, says that proposals by some members of the conservative Seimas faction to delegate not the president but the prime minister to European Union summits are unconstitutional or take into account the practice established. .
According to her, this question began to be raised artificially after the Seimas elections to achieve the objectives of internal politics, and the current procedure “works well and could continue to work.”
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