Stockholm  - Lithuania's new president Dalia Grybauskaite Thursday distanced herself from a controversial bill regarded as discriminating against homosexuals in the Baltic nation and said she planned to introduce amendments to limit "the damage" done.

Neighbouring Sweden currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, and was the 53-year-old president's first port of call after she was sworn in earlier this week.

Lithuania's parliament recently approved the law that was aimed at protecting minors, which included a clause banning discussions about gay relationships.

At a brief news conference with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, the president said that while she could not veto the bill her "tool" was to propose amendments.

"In reality this law is impossible to implement," Grybauskaite said, stating that is was "very imprecise and allows a lot of interpretations."

Grybauskaite, the former European Union Financial Planning and Budgets Commissioner, won a landslide victory in May.

The visit signalled that Sweden was "a very important country" for Lithuania, she said, recalling that Sweden was the first country she visited after the collapse of the Soviet Union 20 years ago.

Although the brief news conference was dominated by questions on the bill, she mentioned that her talks with Reinfeldt had also touched on the Swedish EU presidency's programme including its plans to enhance cooperation on protecting the environment in the Baltic Sea.

They also touched on energy cooperation and a planned underwater gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.

Reinfeldt said he looked forward to cooperating with the president and underlined that "European values" were based on human rights and minority rights, including not discriminating against homosexuals.(dpa)