Lithuania as a Permanent Observer at the Organization of American States (OAS) is taking part at the 53 Regular Session of the General Assembly (GA) of the OAS on June 21-23 in Washington, DC. Lithuania presented a written statement to the GA that encourages all OAS members and observers to support the initiative to establish the Special International Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.

The Organization of American States is the world’s oldest regional organization, dating back to the First International Conference of American States, held in Washington, D.C., from October 1889 to April 1890. That meeting approved the establishment of the International Union of American Republics which eventually evolved into OAS when in 1948 with the signing in Bogotá, Colombia, of the Charter of the OAS.  The Organization was established in order to achieve among its member states—as stipulated in Article 1 of the Charter—"an order of peace and justice, to promote their solidarity, to strengthen their collaboration, and to defend their sovereignty, their territorial integrity, and their independence." Today, the OAS brings together all 35 independent states of the Americas and constitutes the main political, juridical, and social governmental forum in the Hemisphere. In addition, it has granted permanent observer status to 70 states, as well as to the European Union. The Organization uses a four-pronged approach to effectively implement its essential purposes, based on its main pillars: democracy, human rights, security, and development.

During his visit to the United States on June 8-11, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Egidijus Meilunas met with officials of the US National Security Council and the State Department, representatives of the Lithuanian community in the US, and participated in a discussion at the North American - Lithuanian Business Forum (NALB). During the meetings with the US institutions, preparations for the NATO Summit and cooperation between Lithuania and the US on bilateral, regional and global issues were discussed.

In the meetings with the Special Assistant to the US Preside and Senior Director for Europe in the National Security Council Amanda Sloat and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Douglas D. Jones discussions included preparations for the NATO leaders' meeting in Vilnius, as well as further support for Ukraine fighting against Russian aggression and its NATO membership aspirations, the need to strengthen NATO forces for deterrence and defense on the eastern flank, also  bilateral cooperationon security and defense issues between Lithuania and the United States.

In the meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Geoffrey R. Pyatt, cooperation between Lithuania and the US in increasing energy security, further support to Ukraine in the field of energy security was discussed.

The need to reduce economic dependence on China, opportunities to increase strategic diversification, and cooperation with the Indo-Pacific region were discussed with Sarah Beran, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs at the US National Security Council, and Rick Waters, China Coordinator and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for China and Taiwan.

In meetings with representatives of the Lithuanian community in Washington and Baltimore, the development of Lithuanian education, repatriation to Lithuania, and preparation for the referendum on the preservation of Lithuanian citizenship were discussed.

The Vice-Minister also participated in the second North American - Lithuanian Business Forum held in Chicago, and presented Lithuanian support projects for the reconstruction of Ukraine. More than 300 business representatives from the US and Lithuania took part in the forum.

The North American – Lithuanian Business Forum (NALB Forum) is the premier event, organized by the Lithuanian diplomatic missions in the US and the American-Lithuanian business community that aims at bringing closer together the businesses of Lithuania and North American countries, create new mutually beneficial partnerships and promote closer cooperation in the priority sector in business, economy and science.

This year, the NALB Forum will take place in Chicago, the Union League Club of Chicago, on June 7-8. The program of the event, speakers, registration form and other important information is available on the official webpage https://www.nalbforum.com/. Also, we invite you to follow the NALB Forum accounts on Facebook and LinkedIn for the most recent news and updates.

The beginnings of the NALB Forum goes back to 2019, when American-Lithuanian business people and professional clubs met at the Lithuanian Embassy in Washington DC and decided to host the first business forum. The plan was realized in 2021 in April virtually.

The first in-person business forum was held in June 29, 2022, in Philadelphia, the Union League Club of Philadelphia. More than 200 participants and 37 speakers were involved in a day-long discussions and networking. This year, the business forum will take two-days and we hope to attract more than 300 participants from Lithuania, the US, Canada and other countries.

The NALB Forum is under the official patronage of the President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda and the Governor of Illinois J. B. Pritzker.  The event is organized by the Lithuanian diplomatic missions in the U.S. and Canada, the Baltic American Chamber of Commerce, Global Lithuanian Leaders, the Lithuanian American Community, the Lithuanian World Arts Council, World Business Chicago and the following Lithuanian professional clubs: Rotary Club of Chicagoland Lithuanians, Lithuanian American Business Association in Los Angeles (LABA.LA), Lithuanian City of Chicago Club, and New York Lithuanian Professionals.

On March 31^st  the Embassy of Lithuania, together with the Embassy of Liechtenstein during 107th annual conference of the American Society of International Law organized a discussion “Uniting for Accountability: A Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine Created at the United Nations."  At the event, that received a lot of attention, international law experts from Lithuania, Liechtenstein and the USA discussed the importance of establishing a fully international special tribunal.

"The work has begun to investigate and expose the war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine, but we cannot forget the main cause of these crimes - the crime of aggression that commenced with the start of  the war against Ukraine. Those who started the aggression must be held responsible" - Lithuanian Ambassador to the U.S. Audra Plepytė said at the beginning of the event. "Russian impunity is not an option for the international community."

"If we lack the courage and political will to ensure a timely response to aggression against Ukraine that  will mean a continuing threat to international peace and security," Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Justice Gabija Grigaitė-Daugirdė said at the event. The arguments for the establishment international special tribunal presented by Ms. Grigaitė-Daugirdė were favorably received by the international legal experts gathered for the discussion.

During the past week, the Embassy of Lithuania participated in other events and meetings in Washington, DC  dedicated to  the establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. A working breakfast was held at the U.S. Congress with a group of women who are members of the House of Representatives from the Democratic party with participation of  several foreign ambassadors, where the need for accountability of the Russian Federation and its leaders for the war crimes was discussed. Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Justice Ms. Gabija Grigaitė-Daugirdė also held bilateral meetings  with representatives of the U.S. administration, legal community, civil society, and NGOs.

On March 28^th, in Washington, DC the embassies of Lithuania, Ukraine and Germany organized a discussion titled "Rebuilding Ukraine: Justice Reform and the Rule of Law". Experts from the US, Lithuania, Ukraine and Germany discussed Ukraine's efforts, emerging challenges and necessary further steps in order to achieve a fair, transparent and efficient legal system in Ukraine, which is necessary for Ukraine to rebuild and join the EU. At the event Lithuanian Deputy Minister of Justice Dr. Gabija Grigaitė-Daugirdė shared Lithuania's experience in reforming the legal system upon joining the European Union and expressed Lithuania's full support for Ukraine on this path.

On March 27th, at the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania  the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the U.S. Department of State, Freedom House organized an in-person panel discussion and reception dedicated to raising awareness of the staggering rate of political imprisonment worldwide. As the side event of the Summit for Democracy it featured remarks from democratic government officials actively seeking the release of political prisoners worldwide and a panel discussion of prominent democratic activists who themselves were once unjustly detained or whose loved ones are currently behind bars.

Ambassador Audra Plepytė greeted those gathered and introduced the distinguished speakers. Among those were Vice-Minister Mantas Adomėnas, Lithuania Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Under Secretary Uzra Zeya, U.S. Department of State; Nicole Bibbins Sedaca, Executive Vice President, Freedom House; Leopoldo López, Freedom Fighter and Co-Founder of the World Liberty Congress; Pastor Evan Mawarire, Director of Education, Renew Democracy Initiative; Evgenia Kara-Murza, Advocacy Coordinator at the Free Russia Foundation and Monovithya Kem, Director-General of Public Affairs for Cambodia’s Exiled Opposition.

Keynote address was given by Sviatlana Tsihanouskaya, leader of the Belarusian democratic movement.

On 20 December 2022 the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania amended the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Good Will Compensation for the Immovable Property of Jewish Religious Communities No. XI-1470 (hereinafter: “law“). Under the amended Law the compensation for the immovable property illegally expropriated by the totalitarian regimes during the occupations shall be paid not only for the existing immovable property of the Jewish religious communities of Lithuania, with the exception of land, but as well for the immovable property of persons of Jewish descent who lived in Lithuania before or during the Second World War, with the exception of land, to which they or their heirs did not have a legal possibility to restore the rights of ownership in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Restoration of the Rights of Ownership of Citizens to the Existing Immovable Property, as well as the heirless immovable property taken over into the ownership of the State because it was left without owners or heirs as a result of the Holocaust.

On 15 February 2023 the Government of the Republic of Lithuania by its Decree No. 93 designated the Public establishment “The Foundation for Disposal of Good Will Compensation for the Immovable Property of Jewish Religious Communities” (hereinafter: “Good Will Foundation”) to administer good will compensation as it was set under the amended Law.

The Good Will Foundation invites the eligible Holocaust survivors and their heirs to submit an application for one-time payment of compensation for the private real property expropriated in Lithuania during the occupation of totalitarian regimes.

All information and application documents can be found in the link below:

https://gvf.lt/en/2023/02/20/the-good-will-foundation-invites-to-submit-an-application-for-one-time-payment-of-symbolic-compensation-for-the-private-real-property-expropriated-in-lithuania-during-the-occupation-of-totalitarian-re/