VILNIUS, October 19, BNS–Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaitė met her Israeli counterpart on Monday and underlined the importance of Jews in Lithuania’s history and pledged Lithuanian support for Israel at international organizations.

“We know that many ethnicities made up our country through centuries. Jews were the most prominent. Now we need … to create a future together,” Grybauskaitė said at a press conference with Israeli president Reuven Rivlin.

She said Lithuania “tried to be as supportive as possible” of Israel at the United Nations Security Council. Reuvlin responded: “We appreciate it very much.”

Lithuania is one of the strongest supporters of Israel in the EU. In 2011 Lithuania was among 14 countries to vote against Palestinian membership in UNESCO. In September Lithuania abstained in a vote on raising the Palestinian flag outside the headquarters of the organization. The resolution was adopted 119 votes in favor, 8 against and 45 abstentions.

Grybauskaite also said that it’s important for Lithuania to learn from Israel’s experience because both nations live in a “difficult neighborhood.”

Reuvlin, a Litvak, emphasized he’s proud of the fact that his ancestors originally came from Vilnius, which used to be called the Jerusalem of Lithuania because of to its importance for the Jewish people.

“We know that we have a friend in the European Union,” Reuvlin said at the press conference.

Ahead of the meeting with the Israeli president, Grybauskaitė paid a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum to honor the memory of Holocaust victims, and planted an olive tree at the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations.

The Nazis and Lithuanian collaborators killed over 90 percent of Lithuania’s pre-war Jewish population of more than 200,000 during World War II. In 1998 in Israel then-president of Lithuania Algirdas Brazaukas apologized for Lithuanians’ involvement in the massacre of Jews. Eight hundred and seventy-seven Lithuanians have been recognized as Righteous Gentiles for saving Jews during World War II.

“We know how much effort you’re investing in order to teach your children, your youth, your people about what have happened not only to the Jewish people but to you during the war,” Israeli president Rivlin said.