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On 18 July, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Petras Vaitiekūnas visited Panevėžys region, where he participated in the ceremony of transfer of documents of family patrimony of Minister of Foreign Affairs of prewar Lithuania Juozas Urbšys to the Panevėžys county Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė public library and met with businessmen of the Panevėžys region.

At the ceremony in Panevėžys county governor’s administration, P.Vaitiekūnas expressed pleasure that the prominent Lithuanian diplomat, man of letters and translator would be commemorated in his native place and the educative activity on the memory of J.Urbšys would continue. P.Vaitiekūnas highlighted a solid input of J.Urbšys into the Lithuanian foreign policy and his efforts to maintain good mutual relations with neighbouring countries.

P.Vaitiekūnas also emphasized that J.Urbšys was a courageous diplomat, who did not give up during the period of hardships for Lithuania.

‘This is proven by his fight for keeping Lithuania’s Independence and, later, for its re-establishment. The memoranda on the continuity of Lithuania’s statehood written by him to Joseph Stalin in 1943-1944 also serve as a proof,’ said the head of Lithuania’s diplomacy.

The Minister presented books on Lithuania’s foreign policy and the history of diplomacy, published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to the Panevėžys county Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė public library and wished for the library to preserve the dignified memory of J.Urbšys and to educate the new generation of intellectuals of our nation with the help of those books.

During the meeting with representatives of Panevėžys Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts, P.Vaitiekūnas invited the business community from Panevėžys region to cooperate more actively with Lithuanian diplomatic representations in searching for business partners abroad.

Foreign Minister indicated that the doors to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Lithuanian diplomatic representations were open to businessmen and their suggestions, and Lithuanian diplomatic service protected business interests of Lithuania in every way. However, he also encouraged Lithuanian businessmen to unite abroad and to promote a mutual dialogue themselves. According to Foreign Minister, diplomatic service actively supported establishment of Lithuanian business clubs and their activity abroad.

While presenting examples of successful cooperation between the state and business, head of Lithuania’s diplomacy indicated that active and influential Lithuanian business abroad directly contributed to increasing of the efficiency of Lithuanian foreign policy.

The Minister also was glad about the interest of Lithuanian businessmen in his visits to the Central Asia, Balkans, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and other countries, and invited businessmen to continue taking an active part in them in the future.

During the meeting, businessmen from Panevėžys region took interest in the important issues of Lithuania’s relations with neighbouring countries. Foreign Minister acquainted businessmen from the region with the European Neighbourhood Policy, which is being implemented by the EU and the joint Lithuania-EU initiatives in the Eastern neighbourhood countries.