Polish President Andrzej Duda is scheduled to visit Vilnius on November 17–18, according to the office of the Lithuanian president.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda and his Polish counterpart will establish the Council of the Presidents of Lithuania and Poland during the visit.
It will mark "a new phase of enhanced bilateral cooperation as well as cooperation at the level of NATO and the EU”, Nausėda was quoted in the statement as saying.
According to the statement, Duda and Nausėda will discuss bilateral cooperation in fighting the pandemic, procurement of vaccines, regional security and defense issues as well as implementation of strategic energy and transport projects, transatlantic relations and the situation in the Eastern Partnership countries.
The Polish president also plans to meet Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis and candidate for prime minister Ingrida Šimonyte.
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Nausėda went to Warsaw for his first official state visit in summer last year, and Duda also visited Vilnius in November 2019.
Nausėda said the current visit takes place under special circumstances as both countries are battling the pandemic.
"Our countries have mobilised their efforts to control the spread of the virus and to mitigate its effects on the economy. We need to coordinate our collaboration and take decisions at the EU level to prevent the spread of the pandemic, make the decision on procurement of vaccines and speed up the economic recovery," he said in the statement.
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President Duda will be accompanied by his spouse Agata Kornhauser-Duda who will have a separate agenda.
The visit of the Polish president coincides with a historic date for Lithuania and Poland – the 500th birth anniversary of the last Jagiellonian King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund Augustus.
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In late October, Duda had contracted the coronavirus and spent around 10 days in isolation that ended on November 4.
Antanas Bubnelis, spokesman for the Lithuanian president, said that Duda’s visit will be held in line with the quarantine requirements established in Lithuania.
The number of representatives of both sides will be reduced to the minimum during the visit and a major part of usual events during such visits will not be held. There will be no Honorary Guard lineup or an official dinner.
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