Honorary Consulate of Republic of Lithuania in Tanzania

Weekly News from Lithuania, November 27

POLITICS

National Cyber Security Centre of Lithuania joins international project to strengthen Georgia’s cybersecurity capacities

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) under the Ministry of National Defence started a European Union Twinning project to boost Georgia’s competencies in cybersecurity cooperatively with the Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs of Austria. On November 23 a corresponding agreement was signed by the NCSC and the Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs of Austria.

President Gitanas Nausėda had a conference call with President of Iceland Guðni Jóhannesson. In their conversation, the Presidents focused on the cooperation of the Nordic and Baltic countries in dealing with the pandemic as well as testing and vaccination strategies.

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The President: Lithuania supports and will support the civil society of Belarus

President Gitanas Nausėda had a conference call with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Belarusian leader of civil society and symbol of protests for democratic transformation in Belarus, to discuss the difficult situation in Belarus as well as Tsikhanouskaya’s immediate plans and the impact of sanctions on the regime.

Given that John Shimkus, a long-standing member of the US House of Representatives, is bidding farewell to the US Congress and in appreciation of his overall contribution to the freedom cause of the Baltic States, the Seimas expressed, on behalf of Lithuania, its utmost gratitude to him for his steady 23-year-long concern for Lithuania’s security.

BUSINESS & SCIENCE

Best EU Economy in Year of Covid Was Bloc’s Worst-Hit After 2008

The European Union’s worst-hit economy in the wake of the global financial crisis is looking like the bloc’s least affected during the coronavirus pandemic.

Lithuania suffered the deepest recession in 2009 as it became a testing ground for the harsh austerity that later ravaged Greece. This time, the European Commission reckons it will notch the shallowest contraction of all, with forecasts this month pointing to a dip in gross domestic product of just 2.2%.

Lithuania made news at the largest international competition of synthetic biology iGEM held on 13-22 November. The Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM team, which has been participating in this prestigious competition for six years, has won the grand prize of the competition and became the best iGEM team in the world in 2020

Vilnius University (VU), together with the Vilnius University Foundation, has started a fundraising campaign to give access to studies for a larger number of Belarusian citizens to study and is ready to accept scientists persecuted by the regime too. The campaign is launched in response to the intensifying Belarusian authorities' repression against the country's academic community, with large numbers of students, teachers and researchers being expelled from universities for their civic or political activities.

Lithuania makes it easy for fintech innovators to set up shop in the country. The secret is close collaboration between government, the national bank, and private firms.

The fintech industry has done well amid the coronavirus pandemic, as the use of electronic money has grown – along with other forms of contactless living – and Lithuania, something of a European star of the industry and where fintech is a national priority, has continued to attract international players.

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CULTURE & HISTORY

Architecture, fashion and dance. Kaunas blends them all in its unique style. And that style is Modernism. As temporary capital of Lithuania during the interwar period, the city embraced an art movement that best represented its future focused vision |
Credits @ Lithuania. Real is Beautiful

Kaunas is Waiting for “Sweet Christmas”

Even though COVID-19 pandemic is changing everyday life, but it cannot change one of the most beautiful time of the year – Christmas. This year, the main Christmas tree in Kaunas will be lightened as always, but the festive concert will take place outside the Town Hall Square – in order to protect health of Kaunas citizens, on November 28, Kaunas residents and spectators from all over Lithuania are invited to watch the concert comfortably at home on LRT television.

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Searching for Vilna Gaon

Many things about the legendary figure of the Vilna Gaon remain a mystery up to this day – what did he look like? are all the stories about his ascetic yet profoundly enlightened life mere fiction? Lithuanian film director Vytautas Puidokas attempts to tap into the mystery of this prolific Talmudist, halakhist, kabbalist and thinker, born as Elijah ben Solomon Zalman in 1720. In a short, but poignant film he highlights our elusive knowledge, yet enduring impact, of this man’s legacy. What in fact are we searching for when we embark on the quest to find the genius of the Vilna Gaon?

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November 29

Creative Shock | International Social Business Conference 2020

This year Creative Shock invites everyone to the Online International Social Business Conference “Business that Challenges” to present social business as an opportunity to provide meaning and purpose while doing everyday work and show the challenges they meet on their way.

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December 8

Virtual presentation of the “Soon To Be Gone” photography series by Tadas Kazakevičius

In his Soon to Be Gone photography series, Tadas Kazakevičius draws inspiration from American photographers who documented rural America during the Great Depression era, such as Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans.

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Highlight of the Week

Lithuania is getting ready for the holiday season

Vilnius
Photo credits @ LRT

Nov 27 2020

POLITICS

Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius: Lithuania strongly supports international commitments to ensure freedom of expression and safety of journalists

On 16 November, the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius attended the first ministerial-level meeting of the Media Freedom Coalition. The online event was co-hosted by Canada and the United Kingdom.

"It is worrying that more journalists are killed in peace time situations than in war zones. We condemn all the attacks, repression and violence perpetrated against journalists and media workers who have been persecuted, detained and even killed not just in armed conflict, but also during peacetime," said Linkevičius.

On the 19 November 2020 the Lithuanian minister of Energy Žygimantas Vaičiūnas and Flemish minister of Energy, Zuhal Demir signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), confirming their joint commitment to strengthen cooperation in the area of renewable energy. Through this MoU both ministers express their strong interest in promoting renewable energy technologies and identify joint opportunities.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania congratulates the people of Moldova on having voted and freely expressed their political will in the presidential election in Moldova on Sunday.

The presidential election is crucial for the future of the country. In this election, the Moldovan people made it clear they want the country to continue implementing reforms, strengthening the rule of law, and integrating in the EU.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania allocated 75 thousand euros to provide humanitarian aid for those affected by the Nagorno-Karabakh armed conflict. The funds will be transferred to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Since 1992, the International Committee of the Red Cross has been the only international organization in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Yerevan (Armenia) and Baku (Azerbaijan).

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BUSINESS & SCIENCE

Lithuania’s GBS community thrives in ‘the new normal’

The COVID-19 outbreak has presented a challenge for everyone, including Lithuania’s GBS sector that employs almost 20,000 specialists. But what could have been a story of mass layoffs, actually turned out to be a story of growth and resilience. Thanks to careful planning and agile processes, the country’s GBS centres have adapted to ‘the new normal’ exceptionally quickly, and continue to deliver tangible value for their clients and partners.

The first-ever Alter State Nordic-Baltic Women Innovation Sprint kicks off on November 19, 5 PM (EET). 33 formed teams, featuring more than 200 participants from 16 countries around the world, will meet for the first time this Thursday for the virtual opening event.

The Opening Event of the Alter State will be highlighted by an interview with the 2019 European Year-Innovator Irina Borodina, who is Lithuanian. Irina states that this evaluation opened up opportunities to meet other women innovators who inspired her with their enthusiasm, passion for creation, and the innovations they designed by themselves.

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With the three start-up locations in Vilnius, Tech Zity presents development plans

“Infrastructure for success” is the slogan featured at the market introduction and the official launch of the new platform Tch Zity on November 16, bringing together a community of freely hired specialists, innovative companies, and start-ups.

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Lithuania rises to 27th position in IMD World Talent Ranking

Lithuania has gone up by one notch to 27th position among 63 countries in the IMD World Talent Ranking.

Lithuania's comes in first in the world in terms of women's participation in the labor market, and comes in 3rd and 9th in terms of the pupil-teacher ratio.

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CULTURE & HISTORY

Kaunas Modernism on its way to UNESCO: First Stage Done!

The approval means the team behind the bid now has time until February 1, 2021, to polish the application and present it to the evaluation of international experts.

This just in – the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania has just received news from UNESCO World Heritage Centre. The news states that the nomination bid project of Kaunas modernist architecture is in line with the administrative requirements of the application.

A Netflix series with a working title Clark is being filmed in Lithuania. It will be the third Netflix series made in this country in the last 1.5 years after Stranger Things (season four) and Young Wallander. Tax incentives, picturesque sceneries and strong local production teams attract international movie companies to Lithuania.

Lithuanian Oscars Committee announced its selection for this year’s Academy Awards: it’s a debut feature film Nova Lituania directed by Karolis Kaupinis.

The Committee was choosing between five films. Nova Lituania was competing with El Padre Medico by Vytautas Puidokas, The Castle (lit. Pilis) by Lina Lužytė, In The Dust (lit. Sutemose) by Šarūnas Bartas and Exemplary Behaviour (lit. Pavyzdingas elgesys) by Audrius Mickevičius and Nerijus Milerius.

As the 30th anniversary of the January 13 events approaches, LRT invites witnesses to share photos, videos, and audio recordings dating back to the important night when Soviet troops attempted a crackdown on newly-independent Lithuania. The material will appear in a virtual museum.

“While changing my shoes, I found a piece of iron. It was a bullet that bounced off a wall and hit my leg,” Aldona Petrulionienė, a former teacher, reads from a witness account. To the January 13 exhibition, she is contributing the shoe owned by her former student Eva Čepulytė.

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November 21

No Music Day

No Music Day is an event introduced by His Excellency Bill Drummond (who is also an Ambassador of Scotland to the Republic of Užupis and an Ambassador of the Republic of Užupis to the Mu-Mu Land) to draw attention to the cheapening of music as an art form due to its mindless and ubiquitous use in contemporary society.

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