On March 20 Finland formally joined the Lithuania-initiated project for developing the European Union Cyber Rapid Response Teams (CRRTs). The corresponding Declaration of Intent will be signed by Minister of Defence of Finland Jussi Niinistö while on a formal visit in Vilnius.

Seven EU member states – Lithuania, Estonia, Spain, Croatia, Poland, Netherlands, and Romania, have signed such Declarations of Intent. In total, 13 member states are involved in the project – Lithuania, Estonia, Spain, Croatia, Poland, Netherlands, Romania and Finland are participants, and Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, and Slovenia are observers.

On Wednesday, March 20th, the President Dalia Grybauskaitė signed into law the ratification of the protocol on the accession of the Republic of North Macedonia to NATO. This concludes the Vilnius process launched in 2000 by ten countries declaring their aspirations to NATO membership. North Macedonia is the last of the Vilnius Ten nations that has not as yet acceded the Alliance.

North Macedonia will become the 30th member state of NATO when the accession protocol is ratified by all member states. It has already been ratified by Albania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, and Romania.

On 19 March in Brussels, the General Affairs Council prepared the European Council (Article 50) meeting of 21 and 22 March, and discussed the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027. The meeting mainly discussed the way forward to deepen the single market.

“We have to try to strike a balance among a fully functioning single market, effective competition, and a level playing field. A strong and forward-looking EU industrial policy will not work without a fully completed single market and effective instruments of trade policy, ” said the Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the European Union Jovita Neliupšienė.

Rail Baltica high-speed trains from Tallinn to Warsaw and from Tallinn to Vilnius are estimated to run four times per day once the line is launched and up to six times per day within 10 years of operations. Additionally, up to ten trains per day will run on Vilnius-Kaunas-Warsaw route. As a result, Rail Baltica will provide a fast rail connection between the Baltic capitals every two hours.

In addition, the plan includes two night-trains on the route Tallinn-Riga-Kaunas-Warsaw-Berlin and Vilnius-Kaunas-Warsaw-Berlin, enabling passengers to travel further to other destinations in Europe.

Dana Incorporated, a world leader in highly engineered solutions for improving the efficiency, performance, and sustainability of powered vehicles and machinery, will be opening a new global shared service center in Vilnius, Lithuania. The center will employ approximately 100 people in a variety of finance and accounting positions and provide intercompany support to Dana operations in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, ltaly, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

Urban was founded in 2014 to provide easy and affordable access to wellness, so people can live happier and healthier every day. Since then, Urban has delivered well over 300,000 treatments in London, Paris, Manchester and Birmingham.

As part of the company’s ambitious growth strategy they are opening a new office in Vilnius. This 30-member Lithuanian team will be part of the company’s product development and engineering division. Available positions can be found on the Work in Lithuania platform.

The 2019 edition of Vilnius IFF "Kino Pavasaris" (Cinema Spring) began with a show of support for Kirill Serebrennikov, whose romantic and rebellious film “Summer” opened the festival. Attendees illuminated the opening ceremony in solidarity with the director, who remains under house arrest in Moscow amid unfounded accusations.

In his latest feature, Serebrennikov follows young musicians as they search for an escape in the Soviet underground rock scene of the 1980s. The film explores what it means to strive for artistic freedom while oppressed by restrictions.

Starting March 21, Vilnius IFF is screening 170 films in 19 Lithuanian cities, inviting viewers to escape their hectic routines.

Meet Ruta Sepetys in Rome, Italy! Read more about the event here.

Ruta Sepetys is an internationally acclaimed, #1 New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction published in over sixty countries and forty languages. Sepetys is considered a “crossover” novelist as her books are read by both students and adults worldwide. Winner of the Carnegie Medal, Ruta is renowned for giving voice to underrepresented history and those who experienced it. Her books have won or been shortlisted for over forty book prizes, are included on over thirty state reading lists, and are currently in development for film and television.

The museum was founded by NPO "Chiune Sugihara. Visas for life".

Opening of the museum was attended by Ambassador Gediminas Varvuolis, ambassadors of the Netherlands, Israel and Poland, representatives of the US and Canadian Embassies. There were present descendants of Ch. Sugihara, and descendents of a family which was saved from holocaust thanks to a "visa for life", issued by Ch. Sugihara.

In his speech Ambassador paid tribute to Ch. Sugihara and emphasized a very unique role that Sugihara plays in bilateral relations between Lithuania and Japan and how to this day he continues to perform his humanistic diplomatic mission by connecting generations and countries.