As Lithuania's prime minister,
A. Butkevičius plans first visits to Latvia and Poland

"First of all, to Latvia and Poland," Butkevičius told BNS on Monday when asked about his first visits.
Asked to comment on President Dalia Grybauskaitė's decision not to go to Warsaw on Sunday when Poland marks the Independence Day, Butkevičius refused to comment but added that he was of the opinion that "relations with Poland need to be improved and warmed up." "It would be incorrect for me to comment on the president's decision. In the end, it’s the president's opinion and I respect that," the social democratic leader said.

"My position is that we need to improve and warm up our relations with Poland and I believe we could do a lot and reach a lot with such a neighbor as Poland which is very big and I see it as a strategic partner in implementing many common projects and as a partner in looking for agreement even at certain meetings of the Council, and we could do a lot of things by supporting each other," Butkevičius said.

It was announced on Monday that President Grybauskaitė would not attend Poland's Independence Day commemoration on Sunday. The president's spokeswoman Daiva Ulbinaitė told BNS Grybauskaitė would not attend the Sunday commemoration due to urgent internal policy-related issues.

"Due to urgent internal policy-related issues, the president will not go to Poland on 11 November. Sending her congratulation to Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski on the occasion of the Independence Day, the president invited the Polish counterpart to discuss bilateral and regional cooperation issues important for people of Lithuania and Poland at a working meeting in early December or at any time convenient for the Polish president," Ulbinaitė told BNS on Monday.

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