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- 2013-11-16 01:03:36
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On November 12 Mr. Darius Gaidys, Charge d'Affaires in the Embassy of Lithuania in Sofia, gave a presentation about the current Lithuanian EU rotating Presidency of the Council of European Union. AUBG students and faculty gathered in ABF Student Center to attend the conference concerning the role of the Presidency, its responsibilities and the obstacles it faces when making decisions.
Making an outline of The EU’s main goals through Lithuania’s 6 month hold of the Presidency, Gaidys introduced his audience to the major policies and tasks ahead of EU. Among the main aims are raising awareness about the common EU values, as well as citizens rights and implementing initiatives related to research, industry and innovation framework. Gaidys admitted that the Lithuanian Presidency faced challenges when negotiating the 2014 budget. Nevertheless he noted that the budget prepared by the Lithuanian Presidency is one of the smallest compared to previous. Agreements on the goal of creating an Open Europe include aims at enlargement of the EU, which suppose decisions to reopen negotiations with Turkey. The establishment of Eastern Partnership and progress towards free worldwide trade were other priorities outlined in the presentation.
For more information on the operation of the Presidency of the EU, interested citizens should visit the site http://www.eu2013.lt/en/.
After the end of the presentation, Gaidys encouraged the audience to engage in conversation. A question about the growing numbers of asylum seekers was raised. Gaidys explained that it’s not an issue at large, though when talking about Bulgaria in particular it might be an issue, but he didn’t go into a lot of details.
“The problem with the asylum seekers could add up to already existing problems with the accession to Schengen,” said Gaidys.
The Charge d’affairs was asked how his jobs as an ambassador changed when Lithuania took over the EU Council Presidency. “We took over Presidency from Ireland, which is very similar to us,” he said and explained that they were actually lucky, because the two countries were close in terms of territory, population and even attitude of the people. He believes it was easier to be president in the second “semester” of the year, but nevertheless he faced dramatic changes in his daily work. “Everyone is watching what you are doing, what you are saying” said Gaidys “I have to distinguish myself as bilateral, but whatever I say is considered as the position of EU”. He explained he had become more visible and had to attend all kinds of public events, because otherwise it would be considered that the Presidency is ignoring them.
Mr.Gaidys explained that he had meetings concerning the protests in Bulgaria with major political figures including Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski, Boyko Borisov and Sergey Stanishev. He believes that the Government will find a way to deal with that problem.
Making an outline of The EU’s main goals through Lithuania’s 6 month hold of the Presidency, Gaidys introduced his audience to the major policies and tasks ahead of EU. Among the main aims are raising awareness about the common EU values, as well as citizens rights and implementing initiatives related to research, industry and innovation framework. Gaidys admitted that the Lithuanian Presidency faced challenges when negotiating the 2014 budget. Nevertheless he noted that the budget prepared by the Lithuanian Presidency is one of the smallest compared to previous. Agreements on the goal of creating an Open Europe include aims at enlargement of the EU, which suppose decisions to reopen negotiations with Turkey. The establishment of Eastern Partnership and progress towards free worldwide trade were other priorities outlined in the presentation.
For more information on the operation of the Presidency of the EU, interested citizens should visit the site http://www.eu2013.lt/en/.
After the end of the presentation, Gaidys encouraged the audience to engage in conversation. A question about the growing numbers of asylum seekers was raised. Gaidys explained that it’s not an issue at large, though when talking about Bulgaria in particular it might be an issue, but he didn’t go into a lot of details.
“The problem with the asylum seekers could add up to already existing problems with the accession to Schengen,” said Gaidys.
The Charge d’affairs was asked how his jobs as an ambassador changed when Lithuania took over the EU Council Presidency. “We took over Presidency from Ireland, which is very similar to us,” he said and explained that they were actually lucky, because the two countries were close in terms of territory, population and even attitude of the people. He believes it was easier to be president in the second “semester” of the year, but nevertheless he faced dramatic changes in his daily work. “Everyone is watching what you are doing, what you are saying” said Gaidys “I have to distinguish myself as bilateral, but whatever I say is considered as the position of EU”. He explained he had become more visible and had to attend all kinds of public events, because otherwise it would be considered that the Presidency is ignoring them.
Mr.Gaidys explained that he had meetings concerning the protests in Bulgaria with major political figures including Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski, Boyko Borisov and Sergey Stanishev. He believes that the Government will find a way to deal with that problem.