Honorary Consulate of Republic of Lithuania in Tanzania

Weekly News from Lithuania, June 19

POLITICS

Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius reading names of tens of thousands of those forcefully deported, imprisoned and perished in the hands of the oppressors

L. Linkevičius: Baltic states and Poland will continue to coordinate actions

On 15 June in Vilnius, at the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius, the Foreign Ministers of the Baltic states and Poland met to discuss mutual cooperation and actions to further ease restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Gitanas Nausėda took part in a video conference of leaders of the EU member states and the Eastern Partnership countries to discuss priorities and directions of the EU Eastern Partnership policy. The leaders of the EU institutions, the member states and the heads of the Eastern Partnership countries participated in the video conference.

Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, announced today senior appointments in the European External Action Service (EEAS) in headquarters:

Ina MARCIULIONYTE has been nominated as Head of the EU Delegation to the Lao People's Democratic Republic. She is currently Ambassador of Lithuania to China, Thailand, Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam and Myanmar.

The Lithuanian medical team comprised of 8 medical workers and 3 experts will arrive in Armenia on June 19. Mediamax has asked the Lithuanian Ambassador to Armenia Inga Stanytė-Toločkienė to tell how this decision was made.

Two years ago, the Armenian people went to the streets to demand change, democratic reforms, they demanded to put an end to systemic corruption. These developments have prompted Lithuania, along with many donors, to step up its engagement, to much more intensively share Lithuania’s own (rather recent) experience of transformation and thus to support reform process in Armenia.

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BUSINESS & SCIENCE

Kaunas and Vilnius ranked high for cost-effectiveness in a new list of
'Tech Cities of the Future 2020/21'! | Credits @ Invest Lithuania

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is on an Innovation Hunt

As of right now, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania uses EKODB system in its activities. This system is used to manage and exchange information between institutions participating in economic diplomacy – Lithuanian diplomatic agencies, ministries, and other state institutions.

The field of artificial intelligence (AI) is growing exponentially. AI innovations are expected to contribute a significant share of the future global economy. The USA, China and the EU are fiercely competing for the global leadership in this field. Is there a chance for Lithuania to enter the race and surprise everyone by taking the lead?

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CULTURE & HISTORY

Vilnius From A Different View - The Art Of Flying | Credits @ Martas Tankevicius

Vilnius to turn into open-air art gallery

To help artists affected by the coronavirus pandemic, Lithuanian capital Vilnius will turn into an open-air gallery. The Roofless Art initiative invites 100 artists to exhibit their works on billboards all across the city centre, said the press release by Vilnius municipality.

The project will also feature an online gallery with artwork that will not make it onto one of the billboards.

In Lithuania, the summer solstice and the bloom of nature have been celebrated for hundreds of years.

Midsummer, also called Feast of Saint John the Baptist, Summer Solstice, St. John’s Feast Day or Joninės, Kupolės, Rasos in Lithuanian, is one of the oldest traditional festivities held in many countries and centred upon the summer solstice.

High in the Tian Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan, archaeologists from Vilnius University discovered the strongest evidence yet for early and intensive farming of grain crops initially domesticated in the Fertile Crescent of southwest Asia. This research illuminates how the earliest food globalization processes unfolded during a time when the web of organized trade routes, known as the Silk Road, was still thousands of years away.

The twin brothers Dovydas Ilgovskis and Gedalis Ilgovskis were the biggest construction tycoons of interwar Lithuania.

The company they founded in 1921 built some of the most iconic buildings in Kaunas, the then capital of Lithuania, and across the country.

The two Ilgovskis were so influential that the Kaunas society would often joke: “Lithuania is being run by the Chodakauskaitė sisters and the Ilgovskis brothers” – comparing them to the wives of the country's president and prime minister.

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June 23

Joninės. Magic edition.

One of the elements of the 19th-century Kaunas Fortress has been revived by the local community and serves not only as an excellent example of fortification but as a place to be together and create new traditions.

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Highlight of the Week

First Hot Air Ballon championship in Vilnius after three months of Quarantine

Vilnius
Photo credits @ Julius Venskus/Go Vilnius

Jun 19 2020

POLITICS

Lithuanian Naval Force Flyvefisken class ship P14 "Aukštaitis" during BALTOPS 2020
| Credits @ US Naval Forces Europe-Africa

Lithuanian and Canadian Foreign Ministers discuss preparations for Fourth Ukraine Reform Conference

On 10 June, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius had a telephone conversation with Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs François-Philippe Champagne and discussed the preparation of the Fourth Ukraine Reform Conference to be held in Vilnius in 2021.

“We believe in a Ukrainian success story. The country has consistently implemented complex reforms and deepened its Western integration in the face of the ongoing Russian aggression. Despite COVID-19 constraints, we must maintain the international community’s attention to and support for reforms in Ukraine," said L.Linkevičius.

The Government approved Lithuania’s Plan for the DNA of the Future Economy prepared by the Ministry of Finance which will create conditions for a qualitative transformation of Lithuania’s economy, balanced development and development of innovative, high value-added business. Following the public debate, the plan for long-term investment to stimulate the economy was supplemented by new measures, mainly with human capital as well as innovation and research projects.

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BUSINESS & SCIENCE

Business valley project near Neris finished

“Green Hall 3“ is the culmination of many years of work, starting with „Green Hall 1“ now more than 10 years ago.

Over time the „Green Hall“ projects have all researched a more fluid architecture, pursuing the idea of a different approach to design. „Green Hall 3“ naturally complements the existing composition and finalises a campus that stands out in the central business district of Vilnius. „Green Hall 3“ is the final piece and with its movement, almost like a signature, it will make heads turn for many years to come”, said Ulrik Raysse and Ricardo Paternina from “Arrow Architects”, who
designed the building.

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Hotel's on us. Lithuania may cover accommodation to attract foreign tourists

Lithuania's Economy Ministry has proposed that the government cover accommodation costs of every third night that foreign tourists spend in the country.

The measure would be “unique in Europe”, said the acting economy minister, Žygimantas Vaičiūnas.

“The new measure we are creating, which would in fact be rather unique in Europe, aims at promoting inbound tourism,” Vaičiūnas told reporters.

The contest ‘New Enlightener 2020’ – a national selection to the world contest of digital content solutions World Summit Awards 2020 (WSA) – started on June 8. Both, Lithuanian start-ups and experienced business companies – creators of mobile applications, electronic services, digital platforms, and games – are invited to participate in the contest. The winners of the national contest will become the candidates of the global contest World Summit Awards 2020 and will compete with digital products from all over the world.

AML Analytics, the UK based Regulatory and Supervisory Technology (Regtech/Suptech) organisation is to open a dedicated IT development office in Vilnius, Lithuania. As part of its ongoing global expansion, the company expects to build a team in Vilnius of around 50 employees in the next few years.

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CULTURE & HISTORY

Jewish Culture Heritage Association presented an interactive jewsih heritage map of Lithuania
| Credits @ Jewish Heritage Lithuania

‘Holidays abroad’ in Vilnius. Lithuania’s capital turns Italian

While coronavirus restrictions limit travelling abroad, Lithuania’s capital brings foreign experiences directly to its residents.

Every second summer weekend, Vilnius will ‘turn’ into a different country by offering hundreds of events and concerts showcasing its culture, according to AFP.

Last weekend, people were invited to enjoy “Italian holidays in Vilnius”.

Lithuania Travel, the state tourism promotion agency, has published a map of the quirkiest takes on the timeless Lithuanian icon, Šaltibarščiai.

Spread across Lithuania, restaurants offer deviations from the cold beetroot norms that include ice cream, shellfish, or raspberry beer.

Lietuvos Paštas (Lithuanian Post) has issued a special stamp to mark the 300th birth anniversary of the Vilna (Vilnius) Gaon.

Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, a world-famous Torah and Talmudic interpreter, also known as the Vilna Gaon, lived in the 18th century.

Vilnius isn’t the same city it was before the coronavirus. The Lithuanian capital has transformed into an open-air café, where hundreds of restaurants and bars can set up shop in its plazas, squares, and streets and serve customers from a safe distance. It also briefly operated a drive-in movie theater at the city’s idle airport, where people could gather in their cars to watch films projected against a giant screen. And next month, it will ban most cars from its Old Town to allocate more space to pedestrians.

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'Untold stories' - Final 100th Season's Concert of the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet
in an empty concert hall in Vilnius | Credits @ LNOBT

June 6-14

Cirkuliacija'20: Virtual Circus Festival

On June 6-14th the Contemporary Circus Festival “Cirkuliacija” will return to Kaunas in a new format and invite the audience to virtual meetings. The theme of this year is called “Private Zone”.

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