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On 25 August, the annual convention of the heads of Lithuania’s diplomatic representations started in Vilnius. It will continue for two days. After a meeting with President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis highlighted the priorities of diplomatic service to the ambassadors.

The Minister noted that celebrating the 20th anniversary of the diplomatic service of the re-established State of Lithuania this year, it was worth remembering that this single institution of interwar Lithuania testified to the continuity of the statehood as the diplomatic service had not ceased to exist until the re-establishment of the State two decades ago.

According to Minister A.Ažubalis, the diplomatic service played one of the key roles in the process of regaining Lithuania’s independence, it contributed to Lithuania’s accession to the European Union and NATO, the diplomatic service made a substantial contribution to further development and strengthening of the country.

At the meeting of the heads of diplomatic representations, the Minister presented the key goals of Lithuania’s diplomatic service and of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

According to the Minister, taking into consideration the challenges of domestic and international policy, the main tasks are: to serve the citizens of Lithuania and the State as efficiently as possible, to contribute to the stability and peace in the world.

“Protection of interests of Lithuania’s citizens abroad, efficient provision of consular services to Lithuanian and foreign citizens is the top task and duty of the MFA,” Minister A.Ažubalis said.

Continuing on this topic, the Minister stressed that the diplomatic institutions had to help encouraging the involvement of Lithuanian’s living abroad into the life of the State of Lithuania.

According to the Minister, the “Global Lithuania” development strategy that was prepared by the MFA and currently is under consideration should be jointly created and owned not by the MFA, but by those who hold themselves Lithuanians and those who agree with the idea of the consolidation of Lithuanian diaspora.

The Minister also spoke about efficient participation of Lithuania in the EU. He identified major ongoing tasks: increasing the economic competitiveness, implementing the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, cross-border cooperation and security of Lithuania’s external borders, ensuring energy security in order to achieve full integration of energy infrastructure of Lithuania and the Baltic States into the EU.

According to Minister A.Ažubalis, another challenge to the State is protection and representation of its economic interests. The Minister believes that the economic diplomacy is not just a tool for the development of Lithuania’s national business, but also an essential measure for accelerating positive changes in the economy.

“I invite you to take initiative both in searching for potential investors in the countries of representation, and in encouraging the Lithuanian business to look for export opportunities. Your actions are particularly needed now,” the Minister said.

When speaking about the protection of national interests of the State, the Minister drew the ambassadors’ attention to the strengthening of transatlantic relations and democracy in the region, the significance of creating "democracy belt" around Lithuania. The Minister stressed that the development of our State was closely followed by our neighboring countries, which were also learning from our experience. The Minister also highlighted that the development of relations with Russia had to be based on mutual respect and benefit.

The Minister also emphasized that it was not less important to respect Lithuania’s international obligations, aiming to contribute to the consolidation of peace, security and stability within the international community. Minister A.Ažubalis noted the challenges and advantages of the upcoming Lithuania’s chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2011 and the Presidency of the European Union in 2013.

According to the head of Lithuania’s diplomacy, the Nordic-Baltic cooperation is one of the most important directions of Lithuania’s foreign policy.

“Our main task is to establish Lithuania as an active, open, dynamically evolving country of the Baltic Sea region”, Minister A.Ažubalis said.

In conclusion, the Minister said that taking into consideration limited budgetary resources, it was necessary to clearly define priorities among the objectives of the MFA.

Minister A.Ažubalis also presented the guidelines of staff policy reform of the diplomatic service to heads of Lithuania’s diplomatic representations. According to the Minister, the implementation of all the above-mentioned tasks requires a professional, expeditious and competent diplomatic service, based on transparent and fair staff policy and clear principles.