News

On 27 October, Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Asta Skaisgirytė Liauškienė and Roland Lappuke, Ambassador-at-Large from the Latvian Foreign Ministry in charge of relations with the Latvian diaspora, who is currently paying a visit to Lithuania, discussed priorities of diaspora policy.

The Vice-Minister informed her interlocutor that the Government of Lithuania this year approved the “Global Lithuania” programme for 2011-2019 and Lithuanians living abroad were engaged in the implementation of this programme, as well as the inter-institutional action plan for 2012-2014. This programme aims to provide qualitative changes in relations with the Lithuanian diaspora.

According to A.Skaisgirytė Liauškienė, it is expected that the new documents drafted for the programme will help to implement the idea of the “Global Lithuania”, based on the understanding that we all are members of one Lithuanian nation, united by a single national Lithuanian identity and historical memory, and, irrespectively of wherever we live, we can and we must foster our Lithuanian identity, keep in touch with each other and maintain political, economic, civic and cultural relations with Lithuania.

During the conversation, the interlocutors noted that due to an immense emigration, Lithuania and Latvia were facing serious economic and social challenges. Therefore, in order to deal with these issues, we have to maintain and strengthen our relations with our diaspora, also to help them get involved into the process of the creation of the state.

R.Lappuke will also visit the Secondary School “Lithuanian Home” in Vilnius and the Vilnius Ozas Secondary School.