The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday confirmed that Taiwan and Lithuania have suspended talks on a new economic cooperation project proposed by Lithuania, due to the ongoing formation of a new coalition government in Vilnius.
Taiwan remains committed to deepening bilateral economic and trade cooperation with Lithuania based on shared democratic values, MOFA spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said.
Hsiao made the comments in response to a Lithuanian media report published on Monday, which quoted the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as announcing the decision.
Photo: CNA
The pause was prompted by “changes in the domestic political environment,” Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) reported.
On Thursday, Lithuania’s ruling Social Democratic Party formed a new governing coalition with the Union of Democrats “For Lithuania,” and the Farmers and Greens Union following the departure of the far-right Dawn of Nemunas from the previous ruling coalition in early this month.
The new coalition paved the way for a Cabinet led by Social Democratic Party Chairman Mindaugas Sinkevicius.
The Lithuanian ministry originally proposed an action plan in March outlining priority economic sectors and potential projects aimed at bolstering cooperation with Taiwan.
The plan focused on building “sustainable economic ties that would contribute to the development of Lithuania’s high-tech sectors” and centers on potential Taiwanese investment, LRT reported at the time.
MOFA Department of European Affairs Director Eric Huang (黃鈞耀) in April said that most of the projects listed in the proposal build on existing cooperation between Taipei and Vilnius in sectors such as lasers, medical artificial intelligence and fintech.
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