LITHUANIA, January 12 - On behalf of the Government and the people of Lithuania, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has extended sincere congratulations to the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte on taking office.

‘I highly value the already established close cooperation with you and between our Governments, and I hope to continue working with you on further strengthening our extensive relations in the fields of economy, culture, science, and education. In the context of complex challenges that the European Union and NATO face today, close cooperation between the Member States acquires special relevance. I am confident that our joint efforts will contribute to building a prosperous and forward-looking Europe, and a strong NATO. Lithuania highly values the contribution of the Dutch military personnel to NATO’s enhanced forward presence battalion in Lithuania, which is particularly important in the current context of increasing security tensions in Europe,’ reads the Prime Minister’s letter.

The Head of Government has stressed that cooperation within the Baltic-Benelux format had been renewed last year, and has expressed her conviction to deepen it further. In addition, Lithuania and the Netherlands are both members of the United Nations Human Rights Council this year, hence both countries are ready to work together on promoting human rights globally.