Honorary Consulate of Republic of Lithuania in Tanzania

Weekly News from Lithuania, September 18

POLITICS

Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linkevičius met with the U.S. Secretary of State in Washington, D.C.

On 16 September, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius met with the United States Secretary of State Mike R. Pompeo. The meeting focused on the situation in Belarus and in the region, relevant bilateral and multilateral issues related to the relationship between Lithuania and the U.S., and international security policy.

Linkevičius thanked the U.S. for its consistent and visible involvement in ensuring security in Lithuania and in the whole region.

Lithuania will temporarily facilitate the procedures and conditions for issuing visas to Belarusian citizens as of 21 September. After their entry into force, the changes will significantly simplify the procedures for relocating workers and their families. This is especially important for Belarusian companies, which would decide to transfer their businesses to Lithuania. At the same time, this step implements an important part of the plan to help the people of Belarus.

According to President Gitanas Nausėda, Lithuania and Turkey are historically linked by friendly and goodwill relations, the origins of which date back to the old 15th and 16th centuries. Lithuania highly appreciates the fact that Turkey had never recognized the occupation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union. According to the President, it strengthened our hope of becoming free and restoring independence, the thirtieth anniversary of which we celebrated in the spring. We will always remember this sign of Turkish solidarity and understanding with sincere gratitude.

September 17, Minister of National Defence of Lithuania Raimundas Karoblis and Minister of National Defence of Poland Mariusz Błaszczak discussed regional security situation, bilateral initiatives for strengthening regional security – cooperation of armed forces to ensure defensibility of the Suwalki Gap and the aspiration to have a persistent U.S. military presence in Europe and the region – and other topical aspects of NATO agenda at a meeting in Vilnius.

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BUSINESS & SCIENCE

The startup scene in Vilnius is filled with stories of hard work
and dedication worth sharing with the world
| Credits @ GoVilnius

Bio-based resin invented by Lithuanian researchers: breakthrough in rapid prototyping

Lithuanian researchers from Kaunas University of Technology and Vilnius University synthesised and tested a bio-based resin for optical 3D printing. The bio-based resin made from renewable raw materials proved to be universal for both table-top 3D printers and state-of-the-art ultrafast laser, suitable for O3DP in the scales from nano- to macro- dimensions. This, according to the researchers, is a unique property for a single photo-resin.

Kaunas Startups – the promotion program for small and medium-sized enterprises, which is in its sixth year, participated in the European Enterprise Promotion Awards organized by the European Commission and became the winner of the national selection in the category of “Investing in Entrepreneurial Skills”.

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Ignitis Group to develop offshore wind farms with global energy leader Ocean Winds

Ignitis Group started the search for a strategic partner for the development of offshore wind farm projects in Q1 2019. After initiating a search, the group established a dialogue with European wind energy leaders and received initial interest from more than 10 potential partners, and 7 participants submitted official Expressions of Interest (EOIs).

Already more than two-thirds of work for the Rail Baltica project has been completed on the railway stretch between Kaunas and Palemonas. Upon completing this stage of European standard gauge railway installation, not only passenger but also freight trains will be able to arrive in Lithuania’s second-largest city Kaunas without intermediary stops.

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CULTURE & HISTORY

Women partisans among Lithuania’s Forest Brothers: from lovers to fighters

The role of women partisans is often ignored when discussing the history of Lithuania’s Forest Brothers, the anti-Soviet resistance fighters.

While some women took part in the fighting, the secrecy of an underground movement allowed some men to have several lovers at once.

The Lithuanian Film Center has joined the Vilnius University, along with partners the Vytautas Magnus University and The Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore, in a project dedicated to “Encouragement of collaboration between International Baltic Study Centres and Lithuanian Academic Research Institutions”. From now own, classic Lithuanian films will be used for teaching Lithuanian to speakers of other languages.

Lithuanian conceptual design will be among the presentations within this year’s London Design Festival (12–20 September), showcased as part of the international design exhibition Virtual Design Destination in the form of a collection curated by Audronė Drungilaitė and presenting works by Agnė Kučerenkaitė, Barbora Žilinskaitė, Evelina Kudabaitė, Etc.Etc. Studio (Inesa Malafej and Arūnas Sukarevičius), Marija Puipaitė and Vytautas Gečas, Monika Gedrimaitė and Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė.

On a sunny Tuesday morning, 12 seals that were previously found in Smiltynė on Lithuania’s Curonian Spit were released back into the Baltic Sea.

Twenty seals were found in early spring, and after growing to at least 40 kilogrammes over five months, they were strong enough to return to the wild, according to a press release by Lithuania’s Sea Museum.

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September 28 - October 2

The Creative Bureaucracy Festival 2020

A week full of bureaucratic imagination. Week's program is jam-packed with fresh ideas, new insights and pride in what the public sector can accomplish.

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October 2 - 4

NASA Space Apps Vilnius 2020

Space Apps Challenge – it is 48th hours hackathon that unites space enthusiasts around the globe to solve challenges of Earth and space using free and open NASA data.
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Highlight of the Week

Lithuania's Sea Museum released seals back into wild this week

Smiltynė
Photo credits @ LRT

Sep 21 2020

POLITICS

L. Linkevičius: I hope that the relationship between Lithuania and the United Kingdom will become even stronger in the future

On 10 September in London, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius met with Dominic Raab, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom.

In the meeting, the Foreign Minister Linkevičius and the UK's Secretary of State Raab discussed bilateral relations between Lithuania and the UK, situations in Belarus and Russia, the security situation in the region, as well as further cooperation between the European Union and the UK, and other relevant issues of international policy.

French President Emmanuel Macron plans to visit Lithuania on September 28–29, well-informed sources told BNS.

France has deployed several hundred troops to the German-led multinational NATO battalion in Lithuania, and has also taken part in the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission.

Meanwhile, Lithuania has sent additional troops to Mali in response to France's request.

Diplomats from Lithuania and other EU member states have on Wednesday arrived at the apartment of Belarusian Nobel Literature Prize laureate Svetlana Alexievich.

"We have received [information] that unknown people are ringing the bell of her apartment [who are] probably the security or police representatives,” Lithuanian Ambassador to Belarus Andrius Pulokas told BNS

President Gitanas Nausėda met with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, who arrived for a working visit to Lithuania, to discuss bilateral and multilateral cooperation, the Nordic-Baltic agenda, border management, regional security, and transatlantic links.

The President thanked Norway for its active commitment to security in the Baltic States through the deployment of troops to NATO’s enhanced forward presence and assistance for Lithuania’s military modernization projects. The two leaders agreed that NATO had to continue its ambitious agenda and focus on the essential tasks of collective defense.

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BUSINESS & SCIENCE

Embracing Digital Democracy - GovTech Week | Credits @ GovTechLab Lithuania

Yara chooses Vilnius as a Busines Intelligence hub

Internal demand for business intelligence (BI) to analyze the data we collect is increasing at such a pace that Yara is fast-tracking the growth of its global BI team – in Vilnius.

People all over Yara are waking up to the value of data analytics provided by self-service BI platforms and tools such as Power BI, Alteryx, etc. The aim is to give Yara’s BI users more responsibility for their data and the freedom to gather insight faster. With the help of self-service BI tools, business users are able to develop reports and dashboards without having in-depth technical BI knowledge.

Baltic region, has completed the acquisition of a stake in MBL Group (“MBL” or “the Company”), a leading European manufacturer of medical mobility devices, headquartered in Denmark.

Prior to the completion of this transaction, MBL was 70% owned by the Lauritsen family, who founded the company in 1988, with the remaining 30% ownership held by Accession Mezzanine Capital III, a fund advised by Mezzanine Management. As a result of this deal, the Fund has indirectly acquired 48% of MBL while the remaining 52% will continue to be owned by the Lauritsen family.

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Lithuanian Laser Industry Leaders Participate in CIOE

The laser industry, or optoelectronics, in Lithuania is a curious and inspiring case of success. While we rarely get up close with lasers in our everyday life (or don’t realize we do), they are still an essential part of medicine and technological innovation.

Light Conversion is one of the well-established players in the field, founded in 1994. The company focuses on femtosecond lasers, their systems, and optical parametric amplifiers. Light Conversion exports products to over 40 countries in the world.

Nikola Motors – not only demonstrate the great belief in global markets in the power of innovation, but also testify to fundamental changes in the automotive industry, driven by increasing environmental protection requirements. Thus, there is no doubt that this decade will bring not only challenges, but it will also be a period of opportunities for new businesses serving the automotive and related industries, which are already successfully developing and growing in Lithuania.

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The €2 commemorative coin dedicated to Aukštaitija, or the so-called Highlands – Lithuania’s largest ethnographic region and cradle of its statehood.
| Credits @ Lietuvos bankas

CULTURE & HISTORY

Dr Tsemakh Shabad: A Symbol of the Vilnius Jewish Community

In the Old Town of Vilnius, on the corner of Rūdininkai Square, stands a gentleman in a straw hat with pleasant-looking eyes. This is Dr Tsemakh Shabad, a kind-hearted physician, who cared for even the poorest patients and their pets. He was a famous early 20th-century public figure, and the person who introduced hygiene to Vilnius.

There was already a modern Jewish hospital in Vilnius in the late 19th and early 20th century when Dr Shabad began his work. It had pediatric and gynaecological departments, a maternity ward, an operating theatre, and departments for infectious diseases, gastroenterology, diseases of the eye, and psychiatry.

The works of all finalists of the Kaunas Photo festival’s competition are displayed at four outdoor venues and six indoor venues.

For the past few years, every September, the guests and residents of Kaunas are surrounded by photography – the annual festival Kaunas Photo invites everyone to experience this form of art in both indoor and outdoor venues, many of which are located outside the cultural bubble of Kaunas downtown. You can plan as much as a full day of exhibitions – there are ten of them for you to visit!

‘All hail the Governor of the State’, the press saluted the Constituent Seimas, which convened to its first solemn sitting on 15 May 1920. This salutation serves as the title of the exhibition dedicated to the centenary of the Constituent Seimas, which can be viewed in Vilnius and Kaunas. The exhibition, arranged by the Historical Presidential Palace of the Republic of Lithuania and the Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, features major achievements by the Constituent Seimas, the forerunner of the modern Lithuanian Parliament, in restoring the State of Lithuania.

If you’re a fan of detective novels, get ready to binge watch Young Wallander, Netflix’s prequel to the best-selling novels by Henning Mankell. The six-episode series is set in contemporary Sweden, but … did you know that it was filmed entirely in Vilnius, Lithuania.

That’s right - the most crucial scenes were located and shot in the residential neighbourhood of Šeškinė, built in the late 1970s by the Soviet regime. So get ready to follow the beloved Swedish detective through the streets of Vilnius.

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September 12

Fluxux festival

Will we climb to the Parodos Hill during the Fluxus Festival or will we cloak the costumes against each other virtually? Weare in a positive mood and we believe that the riotious and colorful phenomenon that marked the beginning of last autumn – climbing to the Parodos Hill in the evening with "fluxus" suits that cause surprise, laughter and smiles WILL BE!

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