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Today, on 29 August, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis met with heads of 63 Lithuanian diplomatic missions, consular posts and representations to international organisations.

During the meeting, Landsbergis reviewed the challenges faced by Lithuania's diplomatic service and identified future goals for headers of Lithuanian diplomatic missions. “In Ukraine, we defend preconditions for a free world. Therefore, all our forces, efforts and all thoughts must be directed towards it. We must keep ourselves from doing non-essential stuff. Diplomacy has a duty to preserve, strengthen and defend the independent democratic state of Lithuania, and to prepare it for new challenges ahead of it," Landsbergis said.

According to the Foreign Minister, the United Nations, the European Union, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and other multilateral formats are the area, where Lithuania and other “small states” possess a power, are heard and visible. At the same time, organisations themselves need to better adapt to the situation, challenges and strive to function more efficiently.

“The rights-based global order, the rule of law and conflict resolution in a peaceful way, the right of self-determination of peoples, human rights, freedoms and democracy, are a measure of a political order and the development of society, i.e., such an international order, which allows “small states” like Lithuania to survive and live safely, and prosper is the greatest interest of Lithuania,” Landsbergis said.

“With the global security architecture crumbling, the support of allies, our capacity to mobilise new partners is a counterbalance that offsets countries with the greatest leverage of power and ensures that totalitarian regimes have no temptation to occupy even one centimeter of "sacrificible" territories - neither physical nor metaphorical,” Landsbergis said.

Lithuania's Foreign Minister also stressed that the war against Ukraine and tectonic shifts in the global security architecture had highlighted the importance of transatlantic relations. NATO remains the only reliable foundation on which we can build a sustainable European and global security order.

The decision of members of the Alliance to hold a NATO summit in Vilnius in 2023 is a historic achievement of Lithuania's diplomacy, which once again reaffirms that the Alliance attaches great importance to the security of the eastern flank.

Economic diplomacy remains a particularly important field of action. Lithuania’s ambition to diversify markets is producing results — trade volumes with the United States, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Australia have increased significantly. The war in Ukraine has affected supply chains. It is therefore necessary to continue to seek effective market diversification and alternatives. In this regard, the contribution of Lithuanian diplomatic missions will be of paramount importance.

The Foreign Minister also noted that Lithuania’s diplomacy must be able to react timely to the quickly and unexpectedly changing situation, be as persistent and persevering as possible, maintain the democratic world's attention to and focus on the most important issues, as well as have courage to take responsibility.

The annual meeting, during which heads of Lithuanian diplomatic missions, consular posts and representations to international organisations assess achievements and set goals for the future, will be held from August 29 to 1 September. Its agenda includes discussions on economic diplomacy, innovation, transport and energy policies, and the implementation of diaspora’s strategic guidelines. The meeting with the Chancellor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Inga Černiuk, which will focus on amendments to the Law on Diplomatic Service, changes in the functioning and administration, will conclude the annual meeting of Lithuanian ambassadors.