German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is scheduled to visit the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from July 11-14, a foreign ministry spokesman said Monday. Steinmeier, who will be accompanied by a cultural delegation, will meet with his counterparts as well as the prime ministers and presidents of all three Baltic states, foreign ministry spokesman Jens Ploetner said. One of the aims of the visit is to continue the close dialogue between Germany and the Baltic states, the spokesman added. Other topics are cooperation within the European Union and the bloc's neighbourhood policy, particularly with a view to states on the EU's eastern borders. Relations between the Baltic states and Russia will be another theme of the talks, the spokesman was quoted as saying by DPA news agency.
