LITHUANIA’S EASTERN NEIGHBOURHOOD IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION, SAY PARTICIPANTS AT THE CONFERENCE ON MAGDEBURG RIGHTS IN VILNIUS
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius greeted participants of the International Conference “The Spread of Magdeburg Rights throughout Europe: historical and present-day ties between cities” on 14 May at Vilnius Town Hall.
In his welcoming speech, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister stressed that the Magdeburg Law was yet another European identity attribute, which proved that Lithuania’s Eastern neighbourhood, including Belarus and Ukraine, was an integral part of European civilisation.
The Lithuanian Foreign Minister welcomed the fact that this Conference was taking place namely in Vilnius, a city which had been home for ethnically and religiously diverse people, a model of tolerance yesterday and today, the so-called crossroads between the East and the West.
“It’s not an accident that the Eastern Partnership initiative is one of the priorities for Lithuania’s incoming Presidency of the EU Council. It aims to bring neighbouring countries closer to the European Union and its values, and to strengthen the role of civil society in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood,” the Foreign Minister said.
The Magdeburg Law developed in the 12th century and spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Vilnius was the first city in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to be granted Magdeburg Rights in 1387. This contributed to the spread of culture of western-type cities in Eastern Europe, in the territory of present-day Belarus and Ukraine.
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