News

On 16-19 December, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas is paying an official visit to Israel and Palestinian Authority. Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Seimas (Parliament) Justinas Karosas, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group for the Relations with the Knesset of Israel Emanuelis Zingeris, Executive Director of the Jewish Community of Lithuania Simonas Gurevičius, a delegation of Lithuanian businessmen and representatives from the academic community will visit Israel along with the Minister.

In Israel, Minister V.Ušackas will meet with Speaker of the Knesset Reuven Rivlin, Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom, Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman, leader of the opposition in the Israeli Knesset Tzipi Livni, the members of the Knesset Lithuanian-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal, heads of the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya and the Litvak community in Israel.

During the visit, the bilateral relations between Lithuania and Israel, the perspectives and trends of their development, important issues of the European Union and the Middle East Peace Process and cooperation in international organizations will be discussed.

Aiming to develop Lithuanian-Israeli trade and economic relations and to encourage Israeli businessmen to invest in Lithuania, Minister V.Ušackas and representatives of the Lithuanian business will take part in the business forum, during which Lithuania’s investment projects will be presented. In Jerusalem, the Minister will open the Lithuanian Consulate, which will be headed by Lithuania’s Honorary Consul Amnon Dotan.

The Minister will visit the Yad Vashem museum in Jerusalem – the world’s largest Holocaust research centre – and will honour the victims of the Holocaust.

At the international conference in Jerusalem, head of Lithuania’s diplomacy will deliver a speech on the issues of anti-Semitism.

The Minister will participate in the Lithuanian-Israeli intellectuals forum at the IDC Herzliya, the largest private university in Israel, and will deliver a lecture “Lithuania: Challenges and Opportunities” to the students of the Global Research in International Affairs Centre.

At the Nahum Goldman Museum of the Jewish Diaspora in Tel Aviv, Minister V.Ušackas will open an exhibition of photographs by Raimondas Paknys “The Sounds of Silence”, which is dedicated to the Jewish cultural heritage in Lithuania.

On 16 December, Minister of Foreign Affairs V.Ušackas will visit Palestinian Authority, where he will meet with President Mahmoud Abbas and Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki. This is the first visit of Lithuania’s representative to the Palestinian Authority.