Afghanistan
The Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Mr Edgars Rinkevics, Lithuania, Mr Gabrielius Landsbergis and the Estonian deputy minister for European Affairs, Mr Märt Volmer, met in Paris on 26 January 2021 at the invitation of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian. This first meeting this format was held on the centenary of the de jure recognition of Baltic States by France, while the four countries will celebrate this year the 30th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between France and the Baltic States.
On 27 January in Paris, France, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis met with the UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay. The Foreign Minister praised the Director General for her efforts to create an effective UNESCO that would be prepared for modern challenges, and discussed the organisation's work on ethics of artificial intelligence (AI), common priorities for UNESCO and Lithuania in the fields of communication and information, freedom of expression, security of journalists, and Lithuania’s involvement in the fight against disinformation.
On 27 January in Paris, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis opened a virtual seminar on the situation in Belarus together with his counterparts from France, Poland, Romania, and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
On 26 January, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis congratulated Antony John Blinken on his new appointment after he was confirmed by the United States Senate as Secretary of State. The Biden administration will start working soon.
On 26 January in Paris, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis took part in the first meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Baltic states and France in the “3 + 1” format. The meeting was held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Baltic states and France.
On 26 January, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis started his visit to Paris and visited the Shoah Memorial.
On 25 and 26 January, the Permanent Representative of Lithuania, Ambassador Andrius Krivas took the floor at the 37th session of the Working Group of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to address the human rights situation in Myanmar, Rwanda and in Georgia.
On 20 and 22 January, the Permanent Representative of Lithuania, Ambassador Andrius Krivas took the floor at the 37th session of the Working Group of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to address the human rights situation in Australia and Austria.
In commemoration of the Year of the Vilna Gaon and of the History of the Jews of Lithuania, Lithuanians who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust were honored in the oldest Holocaust museum in the United States.
On 21 December, the Permanent Representative of Lithuania Ambassador Andrius Krivas sent a letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Diego García-Sayán regarding Russia's actions against Lithuanian justice officials in January 13 case and asked him to react in accordance with his mandate.
On 18 December, Lithuania took the floor in the Interactive Dialogue with the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ms. Ilze Brands Kehris on the human rights situation in Ukraine.
December 17, 2020
I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Moscow Mechanism invoking participating States: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, as well as the following countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.
On 16 December, the 4th Jurgis Baltrušaitis Jr. Award has been presented at the National University of Architecture and Construction of Armenia. Anna Karamyan, a master degree student in architecture, has received the award for her work on the preservation and renovation of the monastery of the Mekhitarists in San Lazzaro degli Armeni island in Venice.
On December 14, Lithuanian Ambassador Inga Stanytė-Toločkienė met with Mr. Romanos Petrosyan, the new Minister of Environment of Armenia. The ongoing and planned bilateral projects in the sector of environment were discussed during the meeting. The Ambassador paid a great attention to the potential of cooperation in waste management, in particular to the possibility of transferring to Armenia the experience of Lithuanian deposit system.