On October 21, Minsk /BelTA correspondent/. The visit of Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė to Belarus gives grounds to expect an expansion of partnership between the two countries in the economic and political spheres. This opinion was expressed in a conversation with a BelTA correspondent by Sergey Kizima, Head of the Department of International Relations at the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Belarus, Doctor of Political Sciences. Speaking about the significance and outcomes of the Lithuanian President's visit to Belarus, he highlighted two aspects – economic and political. Regarding the latter, the expert recalled that Lithuania will chair the OSCE next year, succeeding Kazakhstan, and in this regard, our country hopes for a consistent improvement of relations with this international organization. "During Kazakhstan's chairmanship, Belarus's relations with the OSCE have improved. Our country expects this trend to continue during Lithuania's chairmanship," said Sergey Kizima. Moreover, Dalia Grybauskaitė confirmed during her visit her intention to continue the course towards developing good-neighborly relations with Belarus in the future. According to the expert, there are grounds to expect positive progress in the economic cooperation between Belarus and Lithuania in the near future, including an increase in trade turnover between the countries, the volume of which has decreased due to the crisis. Incidentally, it was the crisis that prompted new EU members, particularly Lithuania, to more actively seek trade and economic partners outside the European Union, the expert is confident. The fact is that the old EU members, experiencing the consequences of the crisis, proved unable to provide economic support to new participants to the same extent as before, helping them to adapt more successfully to the conditions of the European Union. "Therefore, more and more leaders of new EU members realize the need to more seriously involve the resources of the state apparatus to independently solve emerging economic problems," explained Sergey Kizima. In such conditions, mutual investments become of great importance. "Each country has its strengths in certain sectors of the economy. Cooperation in these sectors will have a positive effect for both sides," believes Sergey Kizima. The economies of the two countries are united by the factor of dependence on energy resource imports. It is in the mutual interest of Belarus and Lithuania to develop new routes for the supply of energy resources, without which effective economic development is impossible.