Vilnius, April 4 (IANS): Lithuania's ministers of foreign affairs and national defence Thursday expressed the country's support to NATO's open door policy.

"We will try to strengthen the opportunities for the current candidate countries to join the alliance until the NATO Summit which will be taking place in September in the UK," Xinhua quoted Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius as saying during the Vilnius Conference 2014.

"I encourage the candidate countries using up the available instruments of the cooperation with the alliance, actively contributing to the NATO activities and participating in the joint exercises and trainings," he added.

Partners that are cherishing the same values as NATO and meet the requirements of its membership should join the alliance, suggested Juozas Olekas, the Baltic country's defence minister, during the conference Thursday.

NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow said the military alliance respects sovereign countries' choice for its membership.

From April 3-4, Vilnius Conference 2014 'NATO open door: Ten years after the BIG BANG' takes place in Lithuania's presidential palace, gathering NATO officials and representatives from the Baltics and Adriatic Charter countries.