VILNIUS, Jun 19, BNS - Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda on Friday called for a swift deal on the EU's next long-term budget and a recovery fund to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and for equal access to the funding for all member states. 

"The president underlined the need to come to an agreement on the EU budget and economic recovery instruments as swiftly as possible so that member states could use them as soon as possible to stimulate their economies and carry out reforms," Nauseda's office said in a press release after the European Council's meeting via video conference. 

Nauseda noted that "the EU budget and the European recovery fund should be equally ambitious and fair: all member states should have access to them based on objective criteria". 

The Lithuanian leader also reiterated his call for increased Cohesion funding, for more rapid convergence of direct payments to farmers, and for adequate funding for the Ignalina nuclear power plant's decommissioning and the Kaliningrad transit scheme.  

In the video conference, EU leaders expressed their views on the European Commission's proposal to borrow 750 billion euros from the markets and spend the money to help the countries hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

The main sticking point so far has been the size of the fund and how it would be split between grants and loans. 

Under the Commission's proposal, Lithuania could apply for 6.3 billion euros from the new fund, including 3.9 billion euros in grants and 2.4 billion euros in loans.

EU leaders plan to hold face-to-face negotiations in Brussels in July. 

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