Nearly 30 Honorable Guests to Discuss Lithuanian–Russian Relations

Nearly 30 honorable guests from Great Britain, the US, Russia, Germany, Spain, France and the Netherlands will be visiting Lithuania on October 28–29. Former ambassadors, politicians, journalists and scientists will attend the conference “30 years diplomatic relations Lithuania-Russia: Are good-neighborly relations possible?“

The conference, which will be held at the Presidential Palace of the Republic of Lithuania, is organized by the VMU Andrei Sakharov Research Centre for Democratic Development. The number of conference participants is limited, but a live broadcast of the conference will be available at www.lrt.lt. The conference will be interpreted into Lithuanian, English and Russian languages.

Speeches during the event will be delivered by Dainius Žalimas, former President of the Constitutional Court, Mantas Adomėnas, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Šarūnas Liekis, Dean of the Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy at Vytautas Magnus University, Ole Horpestad, Norwegian Ambassador to Lithuania, Roderic Braithwaite and Andrew Wood, former UK ambassadors to Russia, Paul Goble and Thomas Graham, former officials of the U.S. Department of State, Pilar Bonet, correspondent for the Spanish newspaper El País, Konstantin von Eggert, journalist for Deutsche Welle, Edward Lucas ir Arkady Ostrovsky, journalists for The Economist, Egidijus Bičkauskas, signatory of the Act of Independence of the Republic of Lithuania, Emilija Pundziūtė-Gallois, research fellow at Vytautas Magnus University and Center for International Studies (CERI) in Paris, Vladimir Jermolenko, former Lithuanian politician and one of the members that negotiated on the withdrawal of the Soviet army from Lithuania, Philippe de Suremain, former French Ambassador to Lithuania, and many other honorable guests.

“The participants truly are experts, diplomats, politicians, officials and creators of international level. Rarely do guests of such level gather for a conference in Lithuania. They are concerned about the bilateral relations between Lithuania and Russia and the future of the region in general. This demonstrates the significance of the issue. These people have something to say and advise, and that is greatly important. It is worth listening to what they have to say,” says Professor Šarūnas Liekis, Dean of the Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy at Vytautas Magnus University.

Professor Šarūnas Liekis (photo from a personal archive)

A unique treaty signed on July 29, 1991 is said to mark the beginning of diplomatic relations between Russia and Lithuania. It was signed while the Soviet Union still existed and it is the only treaty where the Soviet Union acknowledged the annexation of Lithuania.

The conference “30 years diplomatic relations Lithuania-Russia: Are good-neighborly relations possible?” is divided into three parts that discuss the past, present, and future of the relations. Each session will begin with an introductory speech, followed by a number of shorter presentations. After the presentations, a moderated discussion and interaction with the audience will follow.

“From a historical perspective, Russia and Lithuania have always been greatly important to each other. For numerous reasons. Their relations were often hostile, sometimes friendly, but all this time these two countries were important to one another. Just as now – Russia remains one of Lithuania’s main trading partners.

Therefore, the importance of this conference is evident. The signing of the treaty 30 years ago marked a new stage in the bilateral relations. We will gather to discuss what has changed in those thirty years and what the future prospects are,” says Professor Šarūnas Liekis.

The treaty between Russia and Lithuania signed on July 29, 1991.

The conference “30 years diplomatic relations Lithuania-Russia: Are good-neighborly relations possible?” will take place on the 28th and 29th of October at the Presidential Palace of the Republic of Lithuania and will be broadcast online with interpretation to several languages at lrt.lt.