On 24 October in Strasbourg Catherine Trautmann, EU Coordinator of the North-Sea Baltic TEN-T Corridor together with Rail Baltica representatives Ignas Degutis, acting CEO of the Rail Baltica Joint Venture, Ahti Kuningas, Deputy State Secretary of the Transport at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communication of Estonian, Dins Merirands, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Transport of Latvia and Ričardas Degutis, Vice-Minister of Transport and Communications of Lithuania, Mr Andrzej Bittel, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Infrastructure and Construction of Poland, Mr Tomasz Lachowicz, Director, Representative Office of PKP S.A. in Belgium, Mr Jakub Kapturzak, Ministry of Infrastructure and Construction of Poland addressed the “Friends of Rail Baltica” group established by members of the European Parliament.
The meeting was initiated by the European Parliament Member from Latvia Roberts Zīle and members from the Baltic states, Finland, Poland as well as Germany participated. The meeting ensured a possibility to review progress of the Global Project and exchange views on outstanding issues to be addressed at national and Global Project level to ensure further acceleration and efficiency in the project implementation.
European Parliament representatives highlighted the wider context of intense ongoing negotiations on the next EU Multiannual Financial framework, the Connecting Europe Facility and noted the significant progress of Rail Baltica being achieved so far as well as positively appreciated the progress reached in cooperation with Poland and Finland.