“The creation and consolidation of the Lithuanian state 100 years ago would have been inconceivable without the contribution made by Jews. We respect Jewish traditions and celebrate the Jewish heritage,” Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevičius said in a meeting with American Jewish Committee director David Harris.

The meeting at the Foreign Ministry on January 17, 2018, included Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky. Participants discussed trans-Atlantic relations, European Union policy in the Middle East, Lithuanian-Israeli relations and plans to celebrate in meaningful way the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Lithuanian state together with ethnic minorities. The foreign minister also said Lithuania truly appreciates the activities of the AJC right up to the present day, and the AJC’s support for the development of Lithuanian democracy. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry and embassies and consulates maintain regular contact with US and global Jewish organizations.

The AJC actively supports democratic change in Eastern and Central Europe. It was the first Jewish organization to support the recognition of Lithuanian independence, and NATO expansion. This year the AJC again reminded the world of the Lithuanian tragedy of January 13, 1991, saying that although Lithuania paid for it at great price in terms of blood and health, the Baltic nation paved the way for freedom and destroyed the Soviet Union.

The AJC opened an Eastern European office in Warsaw in 2017 in order to maintain close relations with the Baltic and Vyshegrad countries and their Jewish communities.

Information courtesy of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, www.urm.lt