News

On 3 January, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry held an informal meeting with Kingsley Aikins, the Irish diaspora expert, founder and CEO of Diaspora Matters. At the discussion which was moderated by the Director of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of Lithuanians Living Abroad Gintė Damušytė, the guest shared his insights into the value of diaspora to the home country.

K.Aikins attracted attention to the fact that countries had to gain a new understanding of the importance of the diaspora and pursue a mutually beneficial partnership with it. According to the guest, the diaspora cannot be considered as part of the country which has been “lost.” Diasporas can assume a greater voice in the life of their homelands through strategic initiatives, such as: mentorship, investment attraction programs, and cultural projects.

The Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Rolandas Kriščiūnas welcomed the participants of the meeting, stressing that while implementing effective diaspora engagement policies and involving world Lithuanians in the nation-building it was important for Lithuania to benefit from the experience of other countries with large diaspora.

The Foreign Vice-Minister stressed that the idea of Global Lithuania was based on such policy – the understanding that we were one nation and every motivated Lithuanian or any person linked to Lithuania were important and necessary for the country. Wherever we work or live, each of us can contribute to the progress of our country and its civil society with our knowledge, ideas and experience.

G.Damušytė said that when aiming to engage diaspora, contacts were being established with accomplished professionals in many different fields, who had gained recognition in various countries and could contribute to Lithuania’s prosperity with specific projects. She highlighted the Ministry’s aim to further strengthen well-organised and effective Lithuanian communities and organizations abroad, which could engage the diaspora and thus contribute to achieving common objectives.

The discussion was also attended by the Irish Ambassador to Lithuania Philomena Murnaghan, representatives of the Seimas (Parliament) of Lithuania, the Government, and various institutions implementing the Global Lithuania programme, the Vilnius City Municipality, the academic community, the Lithuanian World Community, as well as members and Board members of the network of the Lithuanian professional diaspora “Global Lithuanian Leaders”.

On 3 January, K.Aikins revealed his insights into diaspora engagement policies also during the second Global Lithuanian Awards ceremony at the Presidential Palace.