Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

President Ma Ying-jeou met with Vytautas Landsbergis, Member of the European Parliament and the former head of state of Lithuania, and Mrs. Landsbergis on the morning of April 26. The president extended a cordial welcome to the couple on their trip to Taiwan and said he hopes the visit will bolster bilateral ties.

The president remarked that his visitor was Lithuania's first head of state after it became independent from the Soviet Union, and that Mr. Landsbergis was a founding signatory, along with former Czech President Václav Havel, of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism. Mr. Landsbergis, he said, has made an enormous contribution to democratization in Central and Eastern Europe and is a deeply respected figure in Lithuania and among the people of Central and Eastern Europe. The president noted that Mr. Landsbergis has won a number of peace prizes and is a well-known political figure from his region. Mr. Landsbergis was elected to the European Parliament after Lithuania entered the European Union in 2004 and presently is the only member of the parliament that previously served as a head of state, President Ma said.

The president stated that the European Union last year passed resolutions supporting observer status for Taiwan in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the International Civil Aviation Organization, which is an enormous help to the ROC. In addition, the 27 member states of the Schengen Agreement began providing visa-free courtesies to ROC nationals starting on January 11 this year, and eight other European Union nations have also begun doing likewise. The president said that this move prompted other European nations and territories to take action to grant visa-free status to visitors from Taiwan. This brings to 113 the number of nations and areas that now provide Taiwan nationals with visa-free courtesies or landing visas, the president noted, which makes it more convenient for the public to travel overseas. President Ma also expressed his deepest appreciation to Mr. Landsbergis for his efforts in all of these initiatives.

President Ma pointed out that the European Union is currently Taiwan's fourth largest trading partner, and bilateral trade last year reached US$48.6 billion, up 31% from the previous year. The president expressed his hope that close ties of this type will continue. The president also called on the European Union to explore the possibility of establishing more systematic trade and investment arrangements between the two sides.

Mr. and Mrs. Landsbergis were accompanied to the Presidential Office by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ssu-Tsun Shen to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Chih-kung Liu.