The newly elected members of the European Parliament from Lithuania will take a pro-Ukrainian position and defend Ukraine's membership in the EU and NATO.
This was announced by the Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Olena Kondratiuk following a meeting with her Lithuanian counterpart, the Vice Speaker of the Seimas Paulius Saudargas in Vilnius. He was recently elected to the European Parliament.
As a result of the European Parliament elections held in June, Lithuania will have 11 MEPs. 9 of them represent the parties of the current Seimas, which demonstrates cross-party support for Ukraine.
During the meeting in Vilnius, Olena Kondratiuk and Paulius Saurdagas discussed the strategy of the Lithuanian delegation to the European Parliament.
"I asked the Lithuanian MEPs to continue their pro-Ukrainian and anti-putin policy in the European institution. This is very important for Ukraine, especially now that we have officially started negotiations on joining the European Union," the Vice Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine said in a Facebook post following the meeting.
In his turn, the Vice Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas, Paulius Saurdagas, assured that "the rhetoric and actions of Lithuanian MEPs will remain unchanged: We are convinced that Ukraine should become a member of the EU and NATO and defeat russia."
The Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Olena Kondratiuk paid an official visit to Lithuania at the invitation of the Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas, Viktorija Čmilytė Nielsen. Olena Kondratiuk represented Ukraine at the official events dedicated to the Lithuanian Statehood Day.