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On 3 April Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius participated in the NATO's 70th anniversary events held in Washington, the USA.

The Minister highlighted the impact of the 15 years of Lithuanian NATO membership on the state's security and the importance of Georgia’s and Ukraine's accession to the Alliance in pursuit of securing peace and stability in Europe.

"The reason behind the long-standing success of the Alliance is its ability to adjust to the changing security environment and to rise to the challenges at hand. The strength and unity of the allies during the Cold War helped to resist the Soviet threats; later on, NATO contributed to the restoration of peace in the Balkans. By accepting new members NATO expanded the zone of security and stability in Europe at the same time fighting international terrorism. Our generation's goal is to learn from 70 years of NATO's experience and to develop the Alliance in solidarity and with necessary capacities and the will to respond to current challenges and the ones ahead. The people of Georgia and Ukraine chose to be part of the Western community and no one can challenge their freedom to do so. Lithuania strongly supports their pursuit to become members of NATO," Linas Linkevičius said.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister participated in the discussion event for the 70^th anniversary of NATO "NATO Engages: the Alliance at 70" and the forum organised by the Center for European Policy Analysis "NATO at 70: Commemorating the Past. Preparing for the Future".

In the evening Minister attended the official commemoration of NATO's 70^th anniversary to be held at Andrew W. Mellon's hall, in the building where the North Atlantic Treaty was signed on 4 April 1949.