Lithuanian, German ministers to sign agreement on 1918 Independence Act

“Under the agreement, the document will be on display in Lithuania for five years,” Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry said.

Starting next year, the Independence Act should be exhibited in the House of the Signatories in downtown Vilnius where it was signed almost 100 years ago.

Liudas Mažylis, professor at Vytautas Magnus University, found the Council of Lithuania’s hand-written resolution proclaiming the restoration of an independent state of Lithuania with Vilnius as its capital, written by hand in Lithuanian and German and with 20 signatures on it, in the German Foreign Ministry’s archive in late March.

Presided by Jonas Basanavičius, the Council of Lithuania signed the Act of Independence in Vilnius on Feb. 16, 1918. Historians believe that several original copies of the document were signed on that day, but the whereabouts of the others are unknown.

During the visit in Berlin, Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius should also meet some German politicians.