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Thursday, July 16, Stockholm - President Dalia Grybauskaitė arrived for her first working visit to the Kingdom of Sweden.

President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė met with Sweden's Speaker of Parliament Per Westerberg and later with Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.

The President underlined that Sweden's turn to hold the EU presidency fell on a particularly difficult period. According to the President, the Swedish Presidency priorities mirrored very closely Lithuanian interests too. During the meetings, Sweden's and Lithuania's positions in addressing the financial crisis, and energy and environmental matters were agreed upon once again.

At the Embassy of Lithuania in Stockholm the President received top executives of major Swedish banks, Swedbank and SEB: Executive Vice President and Head of Group Staff at SEB, Bo Magnusson, and President and CEO of Swedbank, Michael Wolf.

The economic situation and business conditions in Lithuania were discussed during the meetings. President Grybauskaitė underlined that it was greatly important to ensure the reliable work of these banks in Lithuania.

President Grybauskaitė also met with the Director General of the transmission system operator Svenska Kraftnät, Mikael Odenberg, and presented him with the Grand Cross of Commander of the Order for Merits to Lithuania. In 1991, Mikael Odenberg was elected to the Parliament of Sweden where he was an active supporter of Lithuanian independence and maintained close contacts with members of the Lithuanian Reconstituent Seimas. In 2006, when serving as Sweden's Minister of Defense, Mr. Odenberg made a great personal contribution to strengthening military cooperation between Lithuania and Sweden. In 2008, when appointed Director General of Svenska Kraftnät, he mediated in reaching an agreement between the Baltic States on creating a common electricity market and building an electricity link from Sweden to Lithuania.