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U.S. Congressional Delegation to Visit Vilnius on 30 May 2003

May 29, 2003

Vilnius, May 29, 2003 -- An eleven-member delegation of U.S. Congressmen, along with their spouses and staff members, will visit Lithuania on Friday, May 30, 2003. The delegation is coming to visit the Baltic States, among them Lithuania, after the Annual Spring NATO Parliamentary Assembly Session held in Prague this year. Congressmen will meet their counterparts and discuss NATO and bilateral relations issues.

The U.S. Congressmen will visit the Rukla Training Regiment and observe the Lithuanian Grand Duke Algirdas Mechanized Infantry Battalion (LITBAT) military training exercise at Gaiziunai Training Area, together with Chief of the Lithuanian Armed Forces MG Jonas Kronkaitis and American Embassy officials.

A meeting with the Lithuanian Minister of Defense Mr. Linas Linkevicius is scheduled at 13.35 h with a short Press Briefing at 14.25 h.

Later the U.S. delegation members and their spouses have been invited to a reception at Forum Palace with Members of Seimas hosted by Seimas Chairman Mr. Arturas Paulauskas. Mr. Gediminas Kirkilas (Chairman of the Foreign Committee), Mr. Andrius Kubilius (Chairman of the Interparliamentary Relations Group with the U.S.), Mr. Vaclov Stankevic (Chairman of the NATO Affairs Commission), Mr. Vytautas Landsbergis, (Conservative Party), Mr. Giedrius Cekuolis (State Secretary, the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs), other Members of Seimas have been invited to participate in the reception.

Members of the U.S. Congress will also have a chance to have a short sightseeing tour of Vilnius; their spouses will be offered a separate program with more cultural activities in Rumsiskes and Trakai.