(Communicated by the Deputy Foreign Minister's Bureau)

Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin met on Wednesday afternoon (22 May 2013) with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius. The visit of the Lithuanian Foreign Minister is very important at this time, as  Lithuania will assume the council presidency of the European Union this coming July.

In his talks with FM Linkevicius, Deputy FM Elkin raised a number of issues of concern to Israel, among them Lithuanian support for Israel's participation in the European Commission's research and development program, Horizon 2020. He also noted the importance of including Hizballah on the EU's list of terror organizations, in light of their involvement in acts of mass murder.