Honorary Consuls meet in Vilnius

Twenty-six of those honorary consuls are members of the Association of Honorary Consuls in Lithuania. Mr. Vaidotas Sankalas, the former President of the Association of the Honorary Consuls in Lithuania hosted a reception for a large number of invited guests, including ambassadors and representatives of the Lithuanian government. He also introduced the newly elected President of the Association, Mr. Aldonis.

Mr. Linas Aldonis represents The Kingdom of Morocco in Lithuania whilst his wife Laura Kovaliovaitė is the Honorary Consul of Romania in Klaipėda. Laura Kovaliovaitė is particularly active in promoting a wider range of links between Klaipeda, Lithuania and Romania.

Among the guests was also Mr. Darius Skusevičius, the Vice -Minister of Foreign Affairs and Mrs. Rugile Andziukevičiute-Buze, the Vice-Minister of Economy. Vice-Minister Darius Skusevičius underlined the importance of the honorary consuls who are often a linchpin to local communities in Lithuania. Many honorary consuls are specialised in areas such as culture and business with good links to the local economy. Therefore, these consuls can offer additional bridges to the world outside Lithuania.

The Lithuanian Association has also applied for membership of the World Federation of Consuls, FICAC with head quarters in Brussels. Mr. Costas N. Lefkaritis, the Vice president of the FICAC also spoke at the event. He confirmed that later this spring, the Lithuanian Association will become members of the world body, FICAC.

After a musical interlude with opera singer Ieva Barbora Juozapaityte and cellist Elena Daunytė, the final guest of the evening, Mr. Darius Udrys, the director of the Vilnius promotional organisation “Go Vilnius”, presented to the audience the new branding of Vilnius.