This year, we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Denmark and Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, determined to further consolidate the strong relationship and close friendship that our countries have enjoyed to date. While we are connected by geography, we are also bound together by common values, mutual interests as well as extensive economic and cultural relations and people-to-people contacts.
20 years ago, on 31 May 2001, Lithuania joined the World Trade Organization. The country's membership of the organization contributed to the significant expansion of its foreign trade. Between 2000 and 2020, exports of goods increased 7 times, from 4,1 billion EUR to 28,6 billion EUR, and imports of goods - 5 times, from 6 billion EUR to 28.9 billion EUR.
Romain Gary is a famous French author born in Vilnius in 1914 under the name Roman Kacew. French pupils study his works at high school. In Lithuania, he has been gaining popularity for the last 10 years, mainly through the construction of a monument and archival discoveries.
Lithuania stands in solidarity with Italy, which is under migratory pressure, so it has decided to voluntarily relocate 10 more persons in need of international assistance to Lithuania.
Research studio Lithuanian Space Agency has imagined a fictional world in outer space that would be created from people 3D-scanned at the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Titled Planet of People, the Lithuanian pavilion is located in the renaissance Santa Maria dei Derelitti church and centred around a 3D scanner that scans visitors to send them into space as digital simulations.
In Lithuania, startups, entrepreneurs and academia are being encouraged not only to use digital services but also to contribute to the development of innovative solutions. Over the last year and a half, Lithuania’s award-winning GovTech Lab has focused its efforts to help the public sector identify challenges that can be addressed by emerging technologies and engage startups and SMEs in the co-creation of innovative solutions.
“Last Sunday's attack by an official Minsk should not be seen just as an isolated incident. It is part of the escalation that has continued since last August. Yet another attempt by the Lukashenko regime to stay in power by any means, posing an increasingly serious security issue for the EU as a whole. The Belarusian regime's acts of terrorism cannot go unpunished. Let us immediately discuss and agree on economic sectoral sanctions. Let us consider the oil, finance, energy and tobacco sectors," said the Foreign Minister, who also stressed that the international community's strong response would send a clear message to other authoritarian regimes. "The EU must send a strong signal to Russia that Europe will not close its eyes to the ongoing annexation of Belarus".
Lithuania is a consistent supporter of Ukraine. In 2020, Lithuania allocated 100 thousand euros in humanitarian aid for Ukraine. In addition, Lithuania provided medical supplies and personal protective equipment to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic | Lithuanian MFA
Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, is fusing science and art with a sculpture dedicated to life sciences. The piece of art has been created to celebrate the scientific discoveries that took place in the city. It serves to artistically depict the “gene scissors” that enabled precise DNA editing—a Nobel Prize-awarded technology and a field of study of Prof. Virginijus Šikšnys, a scientist based in Vilnius.
Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Mantas Adomėnas met with Christophe Deloire, Secretary-General and Executive Director of Reporters Without Borders, and discussed possibilities for strengthening the world press freedom and security of journalists, as well as future international initiatives on the protection of journalists.
The fashion resale revolution is starting today in Canada with the arrival of Vinted, Europe's leading online C2C marketplace dedicated to second-hand fashion. After great success in Europe and with the purpose of empowering more people to shift their habits towards circular fashion, Vinted takes a step outside its home continent and launches its second-hand fashion platform in Canada. Consumers from Vancouver to Montreal will now be able to conveniently and easily trade their pre-loved clothes and accessories with each other.
Ever since I moved to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, the same question has been repeated over and over again. In almost six years since moving from my hometown, Carlow on the banks of the River Barrow, where I was the youngest of nine children, I’m pretty sure that I’ve been asked this same question over 100 times. It’s been framed in as many different ways as the locations in which it was asked; bars, restaurants, workspaces, meetings, and even by strangers in parks. Although the wording may vary, the essence remains the same. “You’re a travel writer, you could have chosen anywhere in the world to live, but you picked Vilnius, why?”
The charity and support fund Maisto Bankas is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and to celebrate this occasion, the Lithuanian word ‘thank you’ (‘Ačiū’) has been emblazoned in apples by the Maisto Bankas team in Vilnius’ Town Hall Square.
The success story of the Lithuania-based company ‘Bagfactory’ may be reminiscent of the path of such famous companies as ‘Apple’, ‘Amazon’ or ‘Google’. In the beginning, the founders of all these companies invested all their savings in the implementation of the idea and started the business from a small garage.
