Press Statement of Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo after the Bilateral Meeting with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Landsbergis

24 April 2024

Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis

Colleagues from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania

Colleagues from the Department of Foreign Affairs

Friends from the media

Ladies and gentlemen good afternoon,

Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis and I met earlier today to discuss the further deepening of the reinvigorated engagement of our two countries. 

We have signed the Joint Statement underlining our commitment to strengthen our bilateral relations, and our shared understanding and positions on regional and international issues.

We agreed to deepen our cooperation in various areas, such as trade and investments, clean energy, science and technology, including health and laser technology, and people-to-people links, as just witnessed, especially in basketball and football cooperation.  

We have identified and agreed on the initial steps that we can take to advance concrete cooperation in these areas. We are also set to conduct the first political consultations between the Philippines and Lithuania, to be hosted by the Philippines in June  this year, and this is intended to move forward our discussions today towards the goal of  reaching the full potential of our bilateral relationship. 

We also tackled pressing regional and international issues of mutual concern. Foreign Minister Landsbergis’ clear expression of solidarity with the Philippines and support for the 2016 Arbitral Award indicated his principled stance on security and stability, and underlines Lithuania as a like-minded champion of the rules-based international order.  We discussed our respective positions on the Indo-Pacific region and Ukraine, and expressed concerns regarding the threats to peace and stability in these two geopolitical flashpoints. The Philippines and Lithuania will continue our dialogue across various levels of engagement. 

I am also pleased to note that Foreign Minister Landsbergis’ official visit this week marks the first time that a Foreign Minister of Lithuania has visited the Philippines.

As I told him earlier today, Foreign Minister Landbergis' visit beckons a new era in our bilateral relationship. Following our meeting, I have full confidence and hope that our commitment to further deepen our partnership will result in closer relations between our two countries. 

Thank you and good afternoon.