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= THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA =

The diplomatic service of the Republic of Lithuania is part of the governmental service tasked with enforcing the foreign policy set by the President, the Parliament, and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. The head of the service is the foreign minister.

History
Lithuania’s diplomacy has long roots going all the way back to the era of King Mindaugas, yet modern-day diplomacy of the Republic of Lithuania is believed to have been born on 7 November 1918 with Augustinas Voldemaras, then prime minister of Lithuania, assuming the office of the foreign minister, thus heralding the formation of the country’s Foreign Ministry. Today, November the 7th is celebrated as the Day of the Diplomat. Back in 1918, Lithuanian diplomacy’s goal number one was to achieve de jure recognition of the restored state of Lithuania, and to demarcate its borders. 1918 m. 23 November 1918 was the day when Jurgis Šaulys was appointed Lithuania’s first minister extraordinary and plenipotentiary in Germany. On 11 January 1919, the first international agreement on communication by post was signed with Germany. The second agreement was made with Latvia, granting this country a loan and Lithuania acquiring a right to use the port of Liepaja for transportation of goods and services. At the time, the FM was developing its system diplomatic orders and ranks following the example of global diplomacy. On 22 May 1920, the following FM functions were established: minister, vice-minister, advisers on church and consular matters, and a General Department and an Information Department were set up. The organisational structure of the FM has changed several times, with the following three departments established on a standing basis in the long run: the Policy Department, the Legal and Administration Department, and the Economics Department. In early 1940, the FM had 218 employees, 123 of them working at the head office, and 95 at foreign missions and consulates.

As the diplomatic practice of the time demanded that the title of ambassador could only be bestowed on representatives from major states, the highest diplomatic ranks in Lithuania prior to its occupation were the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary. Before Lithuania lost its independence, it had its missions to Berlin, Buenos Aires, Brussels, London, Moscow, Paris, the Holy See, Rome, Stockholm, Tallinn, Washington, Warsaw, Geneva, Prague. The most important achievements during the period of independence for Lithuania were the de jure recognition of Lithuania’s statehood, the signing of international agreements. On 12 July 1920 already, Lithuania signed a Peace Agreement with the Soviet Russia, whereby ‘Russia recognises the autonomy and independence of the State of Lithuania with all the legal implication of such recognition with no reservations, and waives all of Russia’s rights of sovereignty it has had towards the people and the territory of Lithuania in good will and for all time’. After one year, on 14 May 1921 a Lithuania–Latvia agreement was signed in Riga. Under the agreement, Lithuania received Palanga, Latvia Aknysta, and the two countries dropped any rights of claim to any other regions of each other. On September the 22nd of the same year. Lithuania was accepted to the League of Nations. Other significant diplomatic achievements were as follows: the signing of the Klaipėda Convention legalising the annexation of the region to Lithuania between the Republic of Lithuania and the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris on 8 May 1924, the entry into a concordat with Vatican on 27 September 1927 , the Lithuania–Germany border agreement of 29 January 1928, which legalised the state border after the annexation of Klaipėda region to Lithuania. Furthermore, on 12 September 1934, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia signed a Baltic concord and cooperation agreement establishing the s-called Baltic Entente.

Lithuania’s occupation by the Soviet Union on 15 June 1940 did not bring the operations of the diplomatic service to a halt, but coordinating them from Lithuania became an impossible task. National diplomats residing abroad ended their relations with the occupation government of the land and launched a diplomatic campaign for the liberation of Lithuania. In his telegram dated 31 May 1940, the last Foreign Minister Juozas Urbšys provisioned that, in the event of occupation, Stasys Lozoraitis, minister extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Rome, be appointed the head of the Lithuanian diplomatic service, Petras Klimas, minister extraordinary and plenipotentiary to France, his first assistant, and Jurgis Šaulys, minister extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Switzerland, his second assistant. The Lithuanian diplomatic service became an offshore institution that guaranteed the continuity of Lithuania’s statehood right until 1990.

During the period of occupation, operation of the Lithuanian diplomatic service was heavily burdened as the Soviet Union had taken over some of the mission buildings and Lithuania’s gold reserves. Despite the strong protests from Lithuania’s representatives, some states (such as Italy, Germany, Sweden, France) complied with the illegal demands of the soviets. On 23 July 1940, US Secretary of State Sumner Welles declared that the US would not recognise the Baltics’ incorporation into the Soviet Union. The US allowed Lithuanian diplomats to continue to work on its territory and refused to surrender Lithuania’s gold reserves to the soviets. The occupation was not recognised by Vatican either. Whereas Great Britain, despite having closed Lithuania’s mission to London, allowed envoy Bronius Kazys Balutis to continue to work in this country. The Lithuanian diplomatic service managed to preserve representation in key Western states until 1990. After the death of Stasys Lozoraitis in 1983, the post of the head of diplomacy was assumed by Stasys Antanas Bačkis minister plenipotentiary to Washington. On 15 November 1987, he surrendered his position of the chief of the mission to Washington to Stasys Lozoraitis Junior, and returned to Paris.

After Lithuania declared independence on 11 March 1990 d., steps had to be taken to consolidate it. A great contribution in this respect was made by surviving diplomats in the US, Vatican, Canada, Venezuela, whom Lithuania still recognised. Shortly, on June the 17, the Foreign Ministry was reinstated with Algirdas Saudargas appointed its first head. On 11 February 1991, Lithuania’s independence was recognised by Iceland, and on September the 17th of the same year, the country was accepted to the United Nations Organisation. One of the first critical diplomatic achievements was the agreement with the Russia Federation laying down the grounds for cross-border relations that was signed on 29 July 1991. Both states undertook to fairly comply with the generally recognised principles and norms of international law in their relationship. The signing of this agreement was followed by yet another achievement: the withdrawal of the soviet occupation troops from Lithuania. On 31 August 1993, the last echelon of former USSR troops left Lithuania

On 26 April 1994, the Republic of Lithuania and the Republic of Poland signed an agreement on friendly relations and good neighboring cooperation, laying down a foundation for the strategic partnership between the two countries. Lithuania’s accession to NATO on 29 March 2004 was an important factor that consolidated the country’s independence; the foundations for the accession were laid in Washington on 1 February 1998, when the US, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia signed a Partnership Charter. The Charter endorsed a common goal of working together to create conditions for the integration of the Baltic states into European and trans-Atlantic political, economic, and security structures, including NATO. Another big achievement was Lithuania entering the European on 1 May 2004. This gave the country an opportunity to join the Schengen space on 21 December 2007. In 2011, Lithuania was the first Baltic state to preside over the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The presidency helped Lithuania boost its influence in international processes. In the second half of 2013, the country presided over the Council of the European Union. On 17 October 2013, Lithuania was elected, by majority vote, non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2014–2015 term and presided over the Council in February 2014 and May 2015.

Activities
The diplomatic service of the Republic of Lithuania is solid. It consist of diplomats working at the Foreign Ministry and foreign diplomatic missions of the Republic of Lithuania under the Foreign Ministry, embassies of the Republic of Lithuania to international organisations, consular establishments, special missions, and negotiation groups; diplomats working at the Office of the President of the Republic of Lithuania, the Office of the Parliament, the Office of the Government, ministries, other governmental institutions or bodies as well as diplomats transferred to international organisations or institutions, European Union institutions or bodies, joint European Commission or Council institutions, joint European Commission and European Union organisations, civil international operations or missions, or foreign institutions on a provisional basis, in the manner prescribed by the Law on Delegating Persons to European Union Institutions or Foreign Institutions of the Republic of Lithuania.

The Republic of Lithuania has its diplomatic missions to foreign states and international organisations. These are permanent liaison institutions of the diplomatic service of the Republic of Lithuania to maintain official international relations and official relations with international organisations, enforce the foreign policy of the Republic of Lithuania, and protect the rights and legitimate interests of the Republic of Lithuania, its citizens, companies, and other legal entities. Diplomatic missions of the Republic of Lithuania are directly subordinate to the Foreign Ministry.

The main functions of the diplomatic mission are to represent the Republic of Lithuania and maintain official relations with the host foreign country; enforce the foreign policy of the Republic of Lithuania; negotiate with the government of the host country, protect the rights and interests of citizens and companies, legally obtain, collect, and transmit to the FM information, promote friendly cross-border relations, disseminate information about Lithuania, maintain and strengthen the relationship between Lithuanians residing in the host country and Lithuania.

Diplomatic ranks
1.      Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Republic of Lithuania;

2.      Envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the Republic of Lithuania;

3.      Minister Counsellor;

4.      Advisor;

5.      First Secretary;

6.      Second Secretary;

7.      Third Secretary;

8.     Attaché

Lithuania has 29 foreign missions, 39 embassies, 8 general consulates, 3 consulates, 1 embassy office, 7 missions to international organizations, and 1 special mission.