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Lithuania

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Overview

Lithuania is the southernmost of the three Baltic states and the largest and most populous of them. Like many countries in Eastern Europe, Lithuania was under the authority of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Lithuania was the first Baltic country to declare its independence from the USSR (in 1990) which provoked a military response that failed to reassert Moscow’s control over Lithuania. A referendum on independence passed in February 1991, and Lithuania’s independence was recognized by the Soviet Union on Sept. 6, 1991. The United States has been a strong supporter of Lithuania’s efforts to shed its Soviet past and develop a market-oriented economy. Officials in Washington also want Lithuania to participate in a controversial plan by American military planners to base anti-ballistic missiles in Eastern Europe, in an effort to shoot down missiles fired by “rogue” states. Russia has been vehemently opposed to this plan by the US to base interceptor missiles and other support infrastructure in Poland and the Czech Republic. In the event Poland gets cold feet over participating in the US missile shield, Washington would like to base the interceptors in Lithuania. This discovery prompted a strong reaction from Russia’s president at the G8 summit in 2008 while meeting with President George W. Bush. Lithuanian officials have been quiet about their country’s involvement in the missile plan.

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Basic Information

Lay of the Land: This Baltic country is bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the southwest, and Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast and the Baltic Sea to the west. Lithuania’s landscape is flat, except for low hills in the western uplands and eastern highlands.

 
Population: 3,358,115
 
Religions: Roman Catholic 79%, Eastern Orthodox 4.2%, Old Believers 0.8%, Lutheran 0.8%, Reformed Evangelical 0.2%, Jewish 0.1%, Sunni Muslim 0.1%, non-religious 9.4%.
 
Ethnic Groups: Lithuanian 83.4%, Polish 6.7%, Russian 6.3%, other 3.6%.
 
Languages: Lithuanian (official) 82%, Russian 8%, Polish 5.6%, Baltic Romani, Karaim.
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History

The pagan Liths are believed to have settled along the Nemen as early as 1500 BC. In the 13th century, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and the Teutonic Knights conquered the region now comprising Estonia, Latvia, and parts of Lithuania. To protect themselves against the knights, the Lithuanians formed a strong unified state.

 
The grand dukes Gedimin and Olgerd expanded their territories at the expense of the neighboring Russian principalities, which were weakened by the Mongol invasion. Lithuania became one of the largest states of medieval Europe by the 14th century, including all of what is now Belarus, a large part of Ukraine, and sections of European Russia. At its peak Lithuania extended to the Black Sea. Olgerd’s son, Jagiełło, became king of Poland in 1386 as Ladislaus II by his marriage with Jadwiga, daughter of Louis I of Poland and Hungary.
 
In 1401, the union between Poland and Lithuania was dissolved. While Jagiełło remained the King of Poland, his cousin Grand Duke Vytautas became the ruler of Lithuania. In 1410, the armies of Poland and Lithuania together defeated the Teutonic Order in the Battle of Grunewald, the biggest battle of medieval Europe.
 
The 16th century witnessed a number of wars against the growing Russian state over the Slavic lands ruled by Lithuania. Lithuania again united with Poland through the Union of Lublin in 1569. Lithuania retained its sovereignty and its institutions, including a separate army and currency. In 1795, the joint state was dissolved by the third Partition of the Commonwealth, which forfeited its lands to Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Over 90% of Lithuania was incorporated into the Russian Empire and the remainder into Prussia. Attempts to restore independence in the uprisings of 1794, 1830-31, and 1863 were suppressed and followed by a tightened police regime and increasing Russification, including the 1864 ban on printing Lithuanian books in traditional Latin characters.
 
A market economy slowly developed with the abolition of serfdom in 1861. Lithuanian farmers grew stronger, and an increase in the number of intellectuals of peasant origin led to the growth of a Lithuanian national movement. In German-ruled East Prussia, also called Lithuania Minor, or Kaliningrad, Lithuanian publications were printed in large numbers and then smuggled into Russian-ruled Lithuania. The ban on the Lithuanian press was lifted in 1904.
 
A Lithuanian linguistic and cultural revival began in the 19th century inspired largely by the Roman Catholic clergy and accompanied by frequent anti-Russian uprisings. World War I and the consequent collapse of Russia and Germany made Lithuanian independence possible in 1918.
 
In 1920, Vilnius was seized by Poland. Lithuania remained technically at war with Poland until 1927. In 1923, Lithuania seized the Memel Territory. The virtual dictatorship (1926-1929) of Augustine Voldemaras was succeeded (1929-1939) by that of Antanas Smetona, and an authoritarian constitution became effective in 1938.
 
Vilnius passed to Lithuania after the Soviet-German partition of Poland in 1939, but a German ultimatum forced the restitution of Memel. In 1940, the USSR, which had obtained military bases in Lithuania, occupied the country. After a Soviet-sponsored “election,” Lithuania became a constituent republic of the USSR. When Germany invaded Lithuania in June 1941, there was an insurrection against the Soviets and a provisional government was established, but Germany refused to recognize Lithuanian independence, and the government was disbanded. During the German occupation of Lithuania in World War II, the considerable Jewish minority was largely exterminated.
 
In 1944, the communist government returned. An anti-Communist guerrilla movement was active in the late 1940s and early 1950, while massive deportations occurred involving intellectuals and farmers to European Russia, Central Asia and Siberia. After the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, repression eased somewhat, and ethnic Lithuanians became prominent in the communist elite.
 
Inspired by the Soviet policy of Glasnost, the Lithuanian parliament declared independence from the Soviet Union in March 1990. Sajudis, a non-Communist coalition, won control of the Lithuanian parliament, and Vytautas Landsbergis became Lithuania’s president. The Soviet Union responded with an oil embargo, and on January 13, 1991, the Red Army attacked the Vilnius TV Tower, killing 14 civilians and injuring 700. Soviet forces, however, were unsuccessful in suppressing Lithuania’s secession. A referendum on independence passed in February 1991, and Lithuania’s independence was recognized by the Soviet Union on Sept. 6, 1991.
 
In 1992, the Democratic Labor (formerly the communist) party defeated Sąjūdis, and Algirdas Brazauskas, a former communist, was elected president in 1993. Also in 1993, the last Russian troops were withdrawn, and Lithuania signed a free-trade agreement with its fellow Baltic states, Estonia and Latvia.
 
Valdas Adamkus, an emigrant from the United States, was elected president in 1998, but lost in a runoff in 2002 to Liberal Democratic party candidate Rolandas Paksas. Charges of corruption and links to Russian organized crime led the parliament to initiate impeachment proceedings against Paksas in December 2003, and he was removed from office the following April. Parliament speaker Artūras Paulauskas became acting president. The same month Lithuania joined NATO. Both events and others led to tensions with Russia in early 2004. Lithuania also became a member of the European Union in 2004. In new elections in June 2004, Adamkus won a second term as president after a runoff. In October, former president Paksas was acquitted of leaking state secrets, one of the three charges upon which he was impeached, but he was forbidden from seeking reelection as president. 
 
In May 2004, Lithuania became one of 10 new states to join the European Union. At that time, it had the highest economic growth rate of all candidate and member countries. Six months later, it became the first EU state to ratify the new EU constitution. However, citing Lithuania's inflation rate, the EU Commission turned down its application to join the euro zone in 2007.
 
Dalia Grybauskaitė was elected as Lithuania's first woman president in the 2009 elections. Running as an independent, she won an emphatic 69 percent of the vote with her closest rival winning only 11 percent. A former Lithuanian finance minister before being nominated to the European Commission, Grybauskaitė has been nicknamed the “Iron Lady” after former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, whom she describes as one of her political models.
 
Background Notes (State Department)
Country Study (US Library of Congress)
 
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History of U.S. Relations with Lithuania

Lithuanians were in America before the American Revolution, but the first significant wave of immigrants arrived in the late 1860’s. The abolition of serfdom in Lithuania in 1861, which was quickly followed by a famine, provided a strong impetus for emigration. Russian repression and a worsening economy drove more Lithuanians to American’s shores in the late 19th century. 

 
An estimated 300,000 Lithuanians came to America before the restrictive Immigration Act of 1924, which effectively put a halt to further newcomers. The 1930 census counted only 193,600 Lithuanians, probably because prior to 1900 Lithuanians were grouped with either Russians, Poles, or Jews on immigration records. Even this discounted figure still represented 6% of the total population of Lithuania at the time. 
 
In the wake of World War II, 30,000 Lithuanians were accorded special status as Displaced Persons and allowed immediate asylum in the US. From the earliest times Lithuanians congregated in urban centers in the northeast where they performed industrial labor, and their descendants still reside in these areas. The states with the largest Lithuanian American populations are Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, California and New Jersey.
 
The United States established diplomatic relations with Lithuania on July 28, 1922. The Soviet invasion forced the closure of the Legation to Lithuania on September 5, 1940, but Lithuanian representation in the United States continued uninterrupted. The United States never recognized the forcible incorporation of Lithuania into the USSR and views the present government of Lithuania as a legal continuation of the interwar republic. Lithuania has enjoyed most-favored-nation treatment with the United States since December 1991. Since 1992, the United States has committed more than $100 million in Lithuania to economic and political transformation and to humanitarian needs. The United States and Lithuania signed an agreement on bilateral trade and intellectual property protection in 1994 and a bilateral investment treaty in 1997. In 1998, the United States signed a “Charter of Partnership” with Lithuania and other Baltic countries establishing bilateral working groups focusing on improving regional security, defense, and economic issues.
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Current U.S. Relations with Lithuania

Lithuania has supported the United States’ war on terror, contributing to military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since 2005, Lithuania has led a Provincial Reconstruction Team in the Ghor province as part of NATO’s mission in Afghanistan. It has also deployed troops to Iraq under Polish, then British, and Danish command. In addition, Lithuania has participated in the peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Kosovo, which the US has supported.

 
In 2009, a report by ABC News alleged the existence of a CIA torture facility in Lithuania, which prompted President Dalia Grybauskaitė to demand a formal investigation. The investigation confirmed the existence of two “black site” prisons in the country. The CIA, under President George W. Bush, used overseas detention facilities to bypass US law. The prisons were believed to be in operation from 2002 to 2005. One of the prisons could only house one detainee, while the other could hold and interrogate up to eight suspects at a time. The prisons opened and operated without political consent; the prison arrangements were conducted between the CIA and the Lithuanian State Security Agency. Top officials within the Lithuanian government were not informed about the prisons. Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said he expected good relations with the US to continue, but a strategic partnership could not be an excuse for “Soviet methods” that ignore civilian control and existing laws.
 
In June 2008 it was reported that Lithuania was secretly negotiating with the US to host some of the facilities for an American missile shield in Central Europe. Lithuanian officials denied the report, but did not rule out future talks. The United States wants to set up bases in Poland and the Czech Republic as part of its plans for a defense shield against ballistic missiles fired from so-called rogue states. Lithuania would serve as a “Plan B” if Poland decides not to host interceptor missiles from the US.
 
The United States is funding a feasibility study for a liquefied natural gas import terminal in Lithuania under an agreement signed between the United States and Lithuania on September 15, 2008.  The director of the US Trade and Development Agency traveled to Lithuania to meet with Lithuanian officials and sign the agreement.  The agreement grants $826,501 (over 2 million LTL) to Lithuania to conduct a study to analyze the possibility of building a liquefied natural gas terminal with a capacity of 1.5 billion to 2.0 billion cubic meters. Three possible sites, including one offshore, will be evaluated under the agreement, and based on the results, the Ministry of Economy will select one site that will be examined in greater detail in the future to determine the appropriate technology for the terminal. The aim of the deal is to help Lithuania diversify its energy sources and assure security of supply.
 
Lithuania is a member of the US Visa Waiver Program, which allows Lithuanian citizens to travel on tourism or business trips to the United States without visas.
 
A total of 659,992 people identified themselves as being of Lithuanian ancestry in the 2000 US census.
 
In 2006, 21,652 Americans visited Lithuania. Tourism has grown steadily since 2002, when 13,598 Americans traveled to Lithuania.
 
In 2006, 7,373 Lithuanians visited America. The number of tourists has fluctuated between a low of 6,959 (2004) and a high of 9,482 (2002) since 2002.
 
Noted Lithuanian Americans
Lane Bryant, born Lena Himmelstein, is the founder of the maternity wear and plus size womens clothing brand. She immigrated to New York in 1895 at the age of 16.
Alexander Bruce Bielaski was the first director of the FBI, serving from 1912 to 1919. His grandfather was born in Lithuania.
Johnny Unitas was a star player for the Baltimore Colts in the 1960s, setting a number of professional records as quarterback. He was born to Lithuanian immigrant parents in Pittsburgh.
Dick Butkusis often considered to be the best middle-linebacker to ever play professional football. He played for the Chicago Bears during the 1960s and 1970s. His parents were Lithuanian immigrants.
Johnny Podres, the son of Lithuanian immigrant parents, was a pitcher for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers and is best known for pitching a shutout in Game 7 of the 1955 World Series against the New York Yankees to help win the Dodgers' first World Series title.
Jack Sharkey, born Joseph Paul Žukauskas, the son of Lithuanian immigrant parents, was a World Heavyweight champion boxer in the 1920s and 1930s.
Vitas Gerulatis was a tennis player best known for winning the men's singles title at the 1977 Australian Open. He won a total of 25 top-level singles titles during his career. He was the son of Lithuanian immigrant parents.
Victor D. Brenner designed the Lincoln penny in 1909, which is the longest-running design in the US Mint. During the first few months of minting, Brenner's initials, VDB, were placed at the bottom of the reverse of the penny but were removed following widespread criticism of their prominence. Brenner was born in Sialuliai, Lithuania, and emigrated to the US in 1890. 
Charles Bronson, born Charles Dennis Buchinsky, was an actor who generally played a “tough guy” role in films, including Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, and The Great Escape. He was the son of Lithuanian immigrant parents.
Robert Zemeckis is the Academy Award-winning director for Forrest Gump. He first gained public attention as the director of the Back to the Future movie series. His father was Lithuanian=American and his mother is Italian=American.
Richard “Dick” Durbin is the senior US Senator from Illinois and Democratic Party Whip. Time magazine identified his as one of “America's 10 Best Senators.”   His mother was a Lithuanian immigrant and his father was Irish=American.
 
U.S.-Lithuania Relations (US Embassy Lithuania)
Foreign Relations (US Library of Congress)
US Relations (Lithuanian Foreign Policy Review)
Lithuania (University of Colorado Libraries)
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Where Does the Money Flow

In 2009 US imports from Lithuania totaled $590.1 million and were dominated by petroleum and furniture, household items and baskets. From 2003 to 2009, other petroleum products steadily rose from almost $200 million to more than $400 million. Furniture, household items and baskets is the second largest import at $49.4 million.

 
Other significant imports on the rise include plastic materials, increasing from $686,000 to $5.5 million, and dairy products and eggs up to $3.7 million from $2.2 million. Most US imports from Lithuanian were on the decline. The greatest import declines were in fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides, falling from $126.5 million to $18.3 million, fuel oil, decreasing from $32.8 million to $25.5. million, and apparel and household goods – other textiles, dropping from $11.3 million to $6.4 million,.  
 
Total US exports to Lithuanian are valued at $408.0 million. The top export to Lithuania from the US is passenger cars at $164.7 million, which experienced a significant decline from $399.4 million in 2008 . The next largest export is meat and poultry, which also declined since 2008, from $106.0 million to $83.3 million.
 
Most other large exports were on the decline as well. The only significant export to experience growth in 2009 was tobacco, unmanufactured, increasing from $12.9 million to $19.3 million. Exports on the decline include fish and shellfish, which fell from $28.3 million to just $8.0 million; chemicals (organic), which decreased from $19 million to $853,000, excavating machinery, declining from $9.1 million to $1.1 million, agricultural machinery, equipment, decreasing from $26.9 million to $11.9 million, and medicinal equipment, dropping from $11.0 million to $6.9 million.
 
 
 
The largest foreign investor in Lithuania is Philip Morris, which purchased the state tobacco company in Klaipeda for $25 million in 1993.
 
The US sold $2.5 million of defense articles and services to Lithuania in 2007.
 
The 2010 Congressional Budget for Foreign Operations requested $4.4 million in aid to Lithuania. All of the aid goes towards Peace and Security: Stabilization Operations and Security Sector Reform. US assistance secures Lithuania's political support for Coalition operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and provision of personnel, equipment, and associated support, as well as continued participation in NATO and international peacekeeping operations. International Military Education and Training ($1.2 million) provides professional military training for non-commissioned officers and junior officers, and English language training. Foreign military financing ($3.3 million) is used to maintain Lithuania’s current US-provided equipment, as well as acquiring new equipment needed to support operations in Afghanistan. Equipment procurements will include night vision equipment, communications equipment, unmanned aerial systems, a water purification system, and vehicle spare parts. 
 
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Controversies

In 2009, a report by ABC News alleged the existence of a CIA torture facility in Lithuania, which prompted President Dalia Grybauskaitė to demand a formal investigation. The investigation confirmed the existence of two “black site” prisons in the country. The CIA, under President George W. Bush, used overseas detention facilities to bypass US law. The prisons were believed to be in operation from 2002 to 2005. One of the prisons could only house one detainee, while the other could hold and interrogate up to eight suspects at a time. The prison was constructed on the property of an exclusive riding academy outside Vilnius which was bought by Elite, LLC, a now-defunct company registered in Delaware, Panama, and Washington, D.C. The prisons were operated without political consent; the prison arrangements were conducted between the CIA and the Lithuanian State Security Agency. Top officials within the Lithuanians government were not informed of the prisons. Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said he expected good relations with the US to continue, but a strategic partnership could not be an excuse for “Soviet methods” that ignore civilian control and existing laws.

 
Lithuanian Inclusion in US Missile Shield Draws Russian Ire
In June 2008 it was reported that Lithuania was secretly negotiating with the US to host some of the facilities for an American missile shield in Central Europe. Lithuanian officials denied the report, but did not rule out future talks. The United States wants to set up bases in Poland and the Czech Republic as part of its plans for a defense shield against ballistic missiles fired from so-called rogue states. Lithuania would serve as a “Plan B” if Poland decides not to host interceptor missiles from the US.
 
The following month Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told President George W. Bush that Moscow would not accept plans for America to place part of its missile defense shield in Lithuania. The two leaders talked about the issue on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Japan.
 
In November 2008, shortly after the election of Barack Obama as the next US president, Russia announced its plans to deploy short-range missiles on its western border. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates criticized the move by Moscow to base missiles in the Kaliningrad enclave between Poland and Lithuania. The Kremlin said it was willing to cancel the project if the US scrapped its plans for a missile shield in central Europe.
Medvedev rejects Bush's missile base plans (by Scott Bevan, ABC News)
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Human Rights

According to the State Department, human rights problems in Lithuania in 2007 included poor prison conditions, illegally prolonged pretrial detention, police and government corruption, widespread domestic violence and child abuse, trafficking in women and girls, and increased reports of racial or ethnic violence and intolerance.

 
The prosecutor’s office sent a legal assistance request to the Israeli Ministry of Justice concerning Yitzhak Arad, former director of the Israeli Holocaust Remembrance Authority Yad Vashem and an anti-Nazi partisan in Lithuania and Belarus during World War II. The prosecutor’s office wanted to inform Arad about “suspicion of possibly committed criminal activities in Lithuania,” including the massacre of Lithuanian partisans and the murder of civilians, and to question him about it. Arad was one of the subjects of a pretrial investigation that the prosecutor’s office began in 2006.
 
In 2005 the government brought criminal charges against Algimantas Mykolas Dailide, alleging collaboration with Nazis and persecution of Jews. In 2006 the Vilnius District Court convicted him of crimes against Jews in Nazi‑occupied Lithuania during World War II, but did not impose a sentence due to the 85‑year‑old convict’s age and infirmity.
 
There are approximately 4,000 Jews in the country. More than 200,000 Jews (approximately 95% of the immediately prewar Jewish population) died in the Holocaust. The country continued to work to better understand its past and to make just recompense for its Holocaust legacy.
 
Anti-Semitism was manifest in acts of vandalism against Jewish graves and monuments, displays of neo-Nazi sentiment, and public anti-Semitic comments. In March 2007 vandals desecrated 12 headstones in the Suderve Jewish cemetery in Vilnius. In July vandals desecrated the Jewish cemetery in Bajorai village, Rokiskis region, on two separate occasions. Media reported that in the second incident thieves intended to steal the fence that surrounds the cemetery. On September 23, Holocaust Memorial Day in Lithuania, a Jewish cemetery in Panevezys was vandalized. Police initiated pretrial investigations in each of these cases, but no suspects were identified by year’s end.
 
In May 2006 several young persons wearing Nazi‑style uniforms and riding Nazi‑era motorcycles drove past the Jewish community center in Vilnius, and community members heard the riders yell slogans glorifying Hitler and belittling Jews. The Vilnius prosecutor’s office initiated a pretrial investigation but by year’s end had not charged anyone with a crime.
 
In April 2007 the Vilnius municipality refused to issue a permit for a public event, sponsored by the European Commission, to promote tolerance and respect for persons with disabilities, homosexuals, and persons of different religions. Municipal officials said they withheld the permits because they were afraid of possible violence by counter-demonstrators. In response to, and at the same place and date for which the tolerance event was planned, a group calling itself “For Morals and Nation” organized an anti-homosexual rally. In May the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman started an investigation to determine if the municipality acted legally by canceling the pro-diversity event. The ombudsman later terminated the investigation due to lack of available information. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), European Commission officials, and some Lithuanian officials criticized the withholding of the permit.
 
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Debate
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Past Ambassadors

Frederick W.B. Coleman
Appointment: Sep 20, 1922
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 5, 1922
Termination of Mission: Left Riga, Oct 20, 1931
Note: Also accredited to Estonia and Latvia; resident at Riga.

 
Robert P. Skinner
Appointment: Sep 23, 1931
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 13, 1932
Termination of Mission: Left Riga, Apr 29, 1933
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Dec 17, 1931. Accredited also to Estonia and Latvia; resident at Riga.
 
John Van A. MacMurray
Appointment: Aug 28, 1933
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 20, 1933
Termination of Mission: Left Kaunas, Feb 13, 1936; departed from Riga Feb 12, 1936
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Jan 15, 1934. Also accredited to Estonia and Latvia; resident at Riga.
 
Arthur Bliss Lane
Appointment: Jan 24, 1936
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 24, 1936
Termination of Mission: Left Riga, Sep 16, 1937
Note: Also accredited to Estonia and Latvia; resident at Riga.
 
Owen J.C. Norem
Appointment: Aug 23, 1937
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 26, 1937
Termination of Mission: Soviet forces occupied Kaunas Jun 15, 1940
Note: Norem left post, Jul 30, 1940. Bernard Gufler was serving as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim when Legation Kaunas was closed Sep 5, 1940.
 
Note: The United States resumed diplomatic relations with Lithuania Sep 2, 1991. Embassy Vilnius was established Oct 2, 1991 with Darryl N. Johnson as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim.
Darryl Norman Johnson
Appointment: Mar 23, 1992
Presentation of Credentials: Apr 14, 1992
Termination of Mission: Left post, May 23, 1994
 
James W. Swihart
Appointment: Aug 26, 1994
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 26, 1994
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jul 16, 1997
 
Keith C. Smith
Appointment: Aug 1, 1997
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 9, 1997
Termination of Mission: Left post Jul 29, 2000
 
John F. Tefft
Appointment: Jun 14, 2000
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 30, 2000
Termination of Mission: Left post May 10, 2003
 
Stephen D. Mull
Appointment: Apr 16, 2003
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 26, 2003
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jun 16, 2006
 
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Lithuania's Ambassador to the U.S.
ambassador-image Pavilionis, Zygimantas

Žygimantas Pavilionis is a career diplomat who became ambassador of Lithuania to the United States in August 2010.

 
Born on August 22, 1971, in Vilnius, Pavilionis grew up with parents who prized higher education; his father, Roland Pavilionis, being an academician and his mother, Mary Pavilionienė Venus, a professor.
 
He attended college at Vilnius University, where he earned a master’s degree in philosophy and postgraduate diploma in international relations.
 
In 1993, Pavilionis joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and worked in the Western European Division, with the rank of third secretary.
 
He was assistant director of policy from 1994-1995, before moving to the Ministry of European Integration, Department of Political Cooperation.
 
He worked in Brussels, Belgium, at the Lithuanian Permanent Mission from 1999-2002.
 
Pavilionis was then promoted to lead the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ European Integration Department from 2002-2004.
 
Most recently, he served as ambassador-at-large and chief coordinator for Lithuania’s presidency of the Community of Democracies, as well as chief coordinator for the Transatlantic Cooperation and Security Policy Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
 
Pavilionis and his wife, Lina Pavilioniene, have four sons.
 
Profile (Washington Diplomat)

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Lithuania's Embassy Web Site in the U.S.
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U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania

McCarthy, Deborah
ambassador-image

The Baltic nation of Lithuania will soon have a new ambassador from the U.S., as President Obama on September 13 nominated career diplomat Deborah Ann McCarthy to serve her first ambassadorship in Vilnius. If confirmed by the Senate, McCarthy would succeed Anne Derse, who has been ambassador since 2009.

 

McCarthy earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics at the University of Virginia, and both an M.A. in Economics and an M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. She also has a Certificate in Airline Strategic Management from the International Air Transport Association. McCarthy worked as a loan officer at a bank before joining the State Department.

 

A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, McCarthy served early career assignments as a financial economist at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, Italy, and at the Department of Treasury, and also as desk officer for Guatemala. She served as economic counselor at the embassy in Port au Prince, Haiti, from 1991 to 1993, and at the embassy in Paris, France, from 1996 to 1998. She was deputy chief of mission at the embassy in Managua, Nicaragua, from 1998 to 2001, and consul general in Montréal, Canada, from 2001 to 2002.

 

Back in Washington, McCarthy served as deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement from 2002 to 2004, senior advisor for Counter Terrorism from 2004 to 2006, and special coordinator for Venezuelan Affairs from 2006 to 2008. She returned to Europe to serve as deputy chief of mission at the embassy in Athens, Greece, from 2008 to 2010. Since September 27, 2010, she has been principal deputy assistant secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, responsible for global economic engagement and negotiations.

 

McCarthy speaks French, Spanish, Greek, Italian and Haitian Creole.

 

- Matt Bewig

 

Official Biography

Deborah A. McCarthy: US is a Good Solid Area to Invest (by Lou Yi, China Daily)

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News
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Overview

Lithuania is the southernmost of the three Baltic states and the largest and most populous of them. Like many countries in Eastern Europe, Lithuania was under the authority of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Lithuania was the first Baltic country to declare its independence from the USSR (in 1990) which provoked a military response that failed to reassert Moscow’s control over Lithuania. A referendum on independence passed in February 1991, and Lithuania’s independence was recognized by the Soviet Union on Sept. 6, 1991. The United States has been a strong supporter of Lithuania’s efforts to shed its Soviet past and develop a market-oriented economy. Officials in Washington also want Lithuania to participate in a controversial plan by American military planners to base anti-ballistic missiles in Eastern Europe, in an effort to shoot down missiles fired by “rogue” states. Russia has been vehemently opposed to this plan by the US to base interceptor missiles and other support infrastructure in Poland and the Czech Republic. In the event Poland gets cold feet over participating in the US missile shield, Washington would like to base the interceptors in Lithuania. This discovery prompted a strong reaction from Russia’s president at the G8 summit in 2008 while meeting with President George W. Bush. Lithuanian officials have been quiet about their country’s involvement in the missile plan.

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Basic Information

Lay of the Land: This Baltic country is bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the southwest, and Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast and the Baltic Sea to the west. Lithuania’s landscape is flat, except for low hills in the western uplands and eastern highlands.

 
Population: 3,358,115
 
Religions: Roman Catholic 79%, Eastern Orthodox 4.2%, Old Believers 0.8%, Lutheran 0.8%, Reformed Evangelical 0.2%, Jewish 0.1%, Sunni Muslim 0.1%, non-religious 9.4%.
 
Ethnic Groups: Lithuanian 83.4%, Polish 6.7%, Russian 6.3%, other 3.6%.
 
Languages: Lithuanian (official) 82%, Russian 8%, Polish 5.6%, Baltic Romani, Karaim.
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History

The pagan Liths are believed to have settled along the Nemen as early as 1500 BC. In the 13th century, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and the Teutonic Knights conquered the region now comprising Estonia, Latvia, and parts of Lithuania. To protect themselves against the knights, the Lithuanians formed a strong unified state.

 
The grand dukes Gedimin and Olgerd expanded their territories at the expense of the neighboring Russian principalities, which were weakened by the Mongol invasion. Lithuania became one of the largest states of medieval Europe by the 14th century, including all of what is now Belarus, a large part of Ukraine, and sections of European Russia. At its peak Lithuania extended to the Black Sea. Olgerd’s son, Jagiełło, became king of Poland in 1386 as Ladislaus II by his marriage with Jadwiga, daughter of Louis I of Poland and Hungary.
 
In 1401, the union between Poland and Lithuania was dissolved. While Jagiełło remained the King of Poland, his cousin Grand Duke Vytautas became the ruler of Lithuania. In 1410, the armies of Poland and Lithuania together defeated the Teutonic Order in the Battle of Grunewald, the biggest battle of medieval Europe.
 
The 16th century witnessed a number of wars against the growing Russian state over the Slavic lands ruled by Lithuania. Lithuania again united with Poland through the Union of Lublin in 1569. Lithuania retained its sovereignty and its institutions, including a separate army and currency. In 1795, the joint state was dissolved by the third Partition of the Commonwealth, which forfeited its lands to Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Over 90% of Lithuania was incorporated into the Russian Empire and the remainder into Prussia. Attempts to restore independence in the uprisings of 1794, 1830-31, and 1863 were suppressed and followed by a tightened police regime and increasing Russification, including the 1864 ban on printing Lithuanian books in traditional Latin characters.
 
A market economy slowly developed with the abolition of serfdom in 1861. Lithuanian farmers grew stronger, and an increase in the number of intellectuals of peasant origin led to the growth of a Lithuanian national movement. In German-ruled East Prussia, also called Lithuania Minor, or Kaliningrad, Lithuanian publications were printed in large numbers and then smuggled into Russian-ruled Lithuania. The ban on the Lithuanian press was lifted in 1904.
 
A Lithuanian linguistic and cultural revival began in the 19th century inspired largely by the Roman Catholic clergy and accompanied by frequent anti-Russian uprisings. World War I and the consequent collapse of Russia and Germany made Lithuanian independence possible in 1918.
 
In 1920, Vilnius was seized by Poland. Lithuania remained technically at war with Poland until 1927. In 1923, Lithuania seized the Memel Territory. The virtual dictatorship (1926-1929) of Augustine Voldemaras was succeeded (1929-1939) by that of Antanas Smetona, and an authoritarian constitution became effective in 1938.
 
Vilnius passed to Lithuania after the Soviet-German partition of Poland in 1939, but a German ultimatum forced the restitution of Memel. In 1940, the USSR, which had obtained military bases in Lithuania, occupied the country. After a Soviet-sponsored “election,” Lithuania became a constituent republic of the USSR. When Germany invaded Lithuania in June 1941, there was an insurrection against the Soviets and a provisional government was established, but Germany refused to recognize Lithuanian independence, and the government was disbanded. During the German occupation of Lithuania in World War II, the considerable Jewish minority was largely exterminated.
 
In 1944, the communist government returned. An anti-Communist guerrilla movement was active in the late 1940s and early 1950, while massive deportations occurred involving intellectuals and farmers to European Russia, Central Asia and Siberia. After the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, repression eased somewhat, and ethnic Lithuanians became prominent in the communist elite.
 
Inspired by the Soviet policy of Glasnost, the Lithuanian parliament declared independence from the Soviet Union in March 1990. Sajudis, a non-Communist coalition, won control of the Lithuanian parliament, and Vytautas Landsbergis became Lithuania’s president. The Soviet Union responded with an oil embargo, and on January 13, 1991, the Red Army attacked the Vilnius TV Tower, killing 14 civilians and injuring 700. Soviet forces, however, were unsuccessful in suppressing Lithuania’s secession. A referendum on independence passed in February 1991, and Lithuania’s independence was recognized by the Soviet Union on Sept. 6, 1991.
 
In 1992, the Democratic Labor (formerly the communist) party defeated Sąjūdis, and Algirdas Brazauskas, a former communist, was elected president in 1993. Also in 1993, the last Russian troops were withdrawn, and Lithuania signed a free-trade agreement with its fellow Baltic states, Estonia and Latvia.
 
Valdas Adamkus, an emigrant from the United States, was elected president in 1998, but lost in a runoff in 2002 to Liberal Democratic party candidate Rolandas Paksas. Charges of corruption and links to Russian organized crime led the parliament to initiate impeachment proceedings against Paksas in December 2003, and he was removed from office the following April. Parliament speaker Artūras Paulauskas became acting president. The same month Lithuania joined NATO. Both events and others led to tensions with Russia in early 2004. Lithuania also became a member of the European Union in 2004. In new elections in June 2004, Adamkus won a second term as president after a runoff. In October, former president Paksas was acquitted of leaking state secrets, one of the three charges upon which he was impeached, but he was forbidden from seeking reelection as president. 
 
In May 2004, Lithuania became one of 10 new states to join the European Union. At that time, it had the highest economic growth rate of all candidate and member countries. Six months later, it became the first EU state to ratify the new EU constitution. However, citing Lithuania's inflation rate, the EU Commission turned down its application to join the euro zone in 2007.
 
Dalia Grybauskaitė was elected as Lithuania's first woman president in the 2009 elections. Running as an independent, she won an emphatic 69 percent of the vote with her closest rival winning only 11 percent. A former Lithuanian finance minister before being nominated to the European Commission, Grybauskaitė has been nicknamed the “Iron Lady” after former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, whom she describes as one of her political models.
 
Background Notes (State Department)
Country Study (US Library of Congress)
 
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History of U.S. Relations with Lithuania

Lithuanians were in America before the American Revolution, but the first significant wave of immigrants arrived in the late 1860’s. The abolition of serfdom in Lithuania in 1861, which was quickly followed by a famine, provided a strong impetus for emigration. Russian repression and a worsening economy drove more Lithuanians to American’s shores in the late 19th century. 

 
An estimated 300,000 Lithuanians came to America before the restrictive Immigration Act of 1924, which effectively put a halt to further newcomers. The 1930 census counted only 193,600 Lithuanians, probably because prior to 1900 Lithuanians were grouped with either Russians, Poles, or Jews on immigration records. Even this discounted figure still represented 6% of the total population of Lithuania at the time. 
 
In the wake of World War II, 30,000 Lithuanians were accorded special status as Displaced Persons and allowed immediate asylum in the US. From the earliest times Lithuanians congregated in urban centers in the northeast where they performed industrial labor, and their descendants still reside in these areas. The states with the largest Lithuanian American populations are Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, California and New Jersey.
 
The United States established diplomatic relations with Lithuania on July 28, 1922. The Soviet invasion forced the closure of the Legation to Lithuania on September 5, 1940, but Lithuanian representation in the United States continued uninterrupted. The United States never recognized the forcible incorporation of Lithuania into the USSR and views the present government of Lithuania as a legal continuation of the interwar republic. Lithuania has enjoyed most-favored-nation treatment with the United States since December 1991. Since 1992, the United States has committed more than $100 million in Lithuania to economic and political transformation and to humanitarian needs. The United States and Lithuania signed an agreement on bilateral trade and intellectual property protection in 1994 and a bilateral investment treaty in 1997. In 1998, the United States signed a “Charter of Partnership” with Lithuania and other Baltic countries establishing bilateral working groups focusing on improving regional security, defense, and economic issues.
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Current U.S. Relations with Lithuania

Lithuania has supported the United States’ war on terror, contributing to military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since 2005, Lithuania has led a Provincial Reconstruction Team in the Ghor province as part of NATO’s mission in Afghanistan. It has also deployed troops to Iraq under Polish, then British, and Danish command. In addition, Lithuania has participated in the peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Kosovo, which the US has supported.

 
In 2009, a report by ABC News alleged the existence of a CIA torture facility in Lithuania, which prompted President Dalia Grybauskaitė to demand a formal investigation. The investigation confirmed the existence of two “black site” prisons in the country. The CIA, under President George W. Bush, used overseas detention facilities to bypass US law. The prisons were believed to be in operation from 2002 to 2005. One of the prisons could only house one detainee, while the other could hold and interrogate up to eight suspects at a time. The prisons opened and operated without political consent; the prison arrangements were conducted between the CIA and the Lithuanian State Security Agency. Top officials within the Lithuanian government were not informed about the prisons. Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said he expected good relations with the US to continue, but a strategic partnership could not be an excuse for “Soviet methods” that ignore civilian control and existing laws.
 
In June 2008 it was reported that Lithuania was secretly negotiating with the US to host some of the facilities for an American missile shield in Central Europe. Lithuanian officials denied the report, but did not rule out future talks. The United States wants to set up bases in Poland and the Czech Republic as part of its plans for a defense shield against ballistic missiles fired from so-called rogue states. Lithuania would serve as a “Plan B” if Poland decides not to host interceptor missiles from the US.
 
The United States is funding a feasibility study for a liquefied natural gas import terminal in Lithuania under an agreement signed between the United States and Lithuania on September 15, 2008.  The director of the US Trade and Development Agency traveled to Lithuania to meet with Lithuanian officials and sign the agreement.  The agreement grants $826,501 (over 2 million LTL) to Lithuania to conduct a study to analyze the possibility of building a liquefied natural gas terminal with a capacity of 1.5 billion to 2.0 billion cubic meters. Three possible sites, including one offshore, will be evaluated under the agreement, and based on the results, the Ministry of Economy will select one site that will be examined in greater detail in the future to determine the appropriate technology for the terminal. The aim of the deal is to help Lithuania diversify its energy sources and assure security of supply.
 
Lithuania is a member of the US Visa Waiver Program, which allows Lithuanian citizens to travel on tourism or business trips to the United States without visas.
 
A total of 659,992 people identified themselves as being of Lithuanian ancestry in the 2000 US census.
 
In 2006, 21,652 Americans visited Lithuania. Tourism has grown steadily since 2002, when 13,598 Americans traveled to Lithuania.
 
In 2006, 7,373 Lithuanians visited America. The number of tourists has fluctuated between a low of 6,959 (2004) and a high of 9,482 (2002) since 2002.
 
Noted Lithuanian Americans
Lane Bryant, born Lena Himmelstein, is the founder of the maternity wear and plus size womens clothing brand. She immigrated to New York in 1895 at the age of 16.
Alexander Bruce Bielaski was the first director of the FBI, serving from 1912 to 1919. His grandfather was born in Lithuania.
Johnny Unitas was a star player for the Baltimore Colts in the 1960s, setting a number of professional records as quarterback. He was born to Lithuanian immigrant parents in Pittsburgh.
Dick Butkusis often considered to be the best middle-linebacker to ever play professional football. He played for the Chicago Bears during the 1960s and 1970s. His parents were Lithuanian immigrants.
Johnny Podres, the son of Lithuanian immigrant parents, was a pitcher for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers and is best known for pitching a shutout in Game 7 of the 1955 World Series against the New York Yankees to help win the Dodgers' first World Series title.
Jack Sharkey, born Joseph Paul Žukauskas, the son of Lithuanian immigrant parents, was a World Heavyweight champion boxer in the 1920s and 1930s.
Vitas Gerulatis was a tennis player best known for winning the men's singles title at the 1977 Australian Open. He won a total of 25 top-level singles titles during his career. He was the son of Lithuanian immigrant parents.
Victor D. Brenner designed the Lincoln penny in 1909, which is the longest-running design in the US Mint. During the first few months of minting, Brenner's initials, VDB, were placed at the bottom of the reverse of the penny but were removed following widespread criticism of their prominence. Brenner was born in Sialuliai, Lithuania, and emigrated to the US in 1890. 
Charles Bronson, born Charles Dennis Buchinsky, was an actor who generally played a “tough guy” role in films, including Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, and The Great Escape. He was the son of Lithuanian immigrant parents.
Robert Zemeckis is the Academy Award-winning director for Forrest Gump. He first gained public attention as the director of the Back to the Future movie series. His father was Lithuanian=American and his mother is Italian=American.
Richard “Dick” Durbin is the senior US Senator from Illinois and Democratic Party Whip. Time magazine identified his as one of “America's 10 Best Senators.”   His mother was a Lithuanian immigrant and his father was Irish=American.
 
U.S.-Lithuania Relations (US Embassy Lithuania)
Foreign Relations (US Library of Congress)
US Relations (Lithuanian Foreign Policy Review)
Lithuania (University of Colorado Libraries)
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Where Does the Money Flow

In 2009 US imports from Lithuania totaled $590.1 million and were dominated by petroleum and furniture, household items and baskets. From 2003 to 2009, other petroleum products steadily rose from almost $200 million to more than $400 million. Furniture, household items and baskets is the second largest import at $49.4 million.

 
Other significant imports on the rise include plastic materials, increasing from $686,000 to $5.5 million, and dairy products and eggs up to $3.7 million from $2.2 million. Most US imports from Lithuanian were on the decline. The greatest import declines were in fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides, falling from $126.5 million to $18.3 million, fuel oil, decreasing from $32.8 million to $25.5. million, and apparel and household goods – other textiles, dropping from $11.3 million to $6.4 million,.  
 
Total US exports to Lithuanian are valued at $408.0 million. The top export to Lithuania from the US is passenger cars at $164.7 million, which experienced a significant decline from $399.4 million in 2008 . The next largest export is meat and poultry, which also declined since 2008, from $106.0 million to $83.3 million.
 
Most other large exports were on the decline as well. The only significant export to experience growth in 2009 was tobacco, unmanufactured, increasing from $12.9 million to $19.3 million. Exports on the decline include fish and shellfish, which fell from $28.3 million to just $8.0 million; chemicals (organic), which decreased from $19 million to $853,000, excavating machinery, declining from $9.1 million to $1.1 million, agricultural machinery, equipment, decreasing from $26.9 million to $11.9 million, and medicinal equipment, dropping from $11.0 million to $6.9 million.
 
 
 
The largest foreign investor in Lithuania is Philip Morris, which purchased the state tobacco company in Klaipeda for $25 million in 1993.
 
The US sold $2.5 million of defense articles and services to Lithuania in 2007.
 
The 2010 Congressional Budget for Foreign Operations requested $4.4 million in aid to Lithuania. All of the aid goes towards Peace and Security: Stabilization Operations and Security Sector Reform. US assistance secures Lithuania's political support for Coalition operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and provision of personnel, equipment, and associated support, as well as continued participation in NATO and international peacekeeping operations. International Military Education and Training ($1.2 million) provides professional military training for non-commissioned officers and junior officers, and English language training. Foreign military financing ($3.3 million) is used to maintain Lithuania’s current US-provided equipment, as well as acquiring new equipment needed to support operations in Afghanistan. Equipment procurements will include night vision equipment, communications equipment, unmanned aerial systems, a water purification system, and vehicle spare parts. 
 
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Controversies

In 2009, a report by ABC News alleged the existence of a CIA torture facility in Lithuania, which prompted President Dalia Grybauskaitė to demand a formal investigation. The investigation confirmed the existence of two “black site” prisons in the country. The CIA, under President George W. Bush, used overseas detention facilities to bypass US law. The prisons were believed to be in operation from 2002 to 2005. One of the prisons could only house one detainee, while the other could hold and interrogate up to eight suspects at a time. The prison was constructed on the property of an exclusive riding academy outside Vilnius which was bought by Elite, LLC, a now-defunct company registered in Delaware, Panama, and Washington, D.C. The prisons were operated without political consent; the prison arrangements were conducted between the CIA and the Lithuanian State Security Agency. Top officials within the Lithuanians government were not informed of the prisons. Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said he expected good relations with the US to continue, but a strategic partnership could not be an excuse for “Soviet methods” that ignore civilian control and existing laws.

 
Lithuanian Inclusion in US Missile Shield Draws Russian Ire
In June 2008 it was reported that Lithuania was secretly negotiating with the US to host some of the facilities for an American missile shield in Central Europe. Lithuanian officials denied the report, but did not rule out future talks. The United States wants to set up bases in Poland and the Czech Republic as part of its plans for a defense shield against ballistic missiles fired from so-called rogue states. Lithuania would serve as a “Plan B” if Poland decides not to host interceptor missiles from the US.
 
The following month Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told President George W. Bush that Moscow would not accept plans for America to place part of its missile defense shield in Lithuania. The two leaders talked about the issue on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Japan.
 
In November 2008, shortly after the election of Barack Obama as the next US president, Russia announced its plans to deploy short-range missiles on its western border. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates criticized the move by Moscow to base missiles in the Kaliningrad enclave between Poland and Lithuania. The Kremlin said it was willing to cancel the project if the US scrapped its plans for a missile shield in central Europe.
Medvedev rejects Bush's missile base plans (by Scott Bevan, ABC News)
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Human Rights

According to the State Department, human rights problems in Lithuania in 2007 included poor prison conditions, illegally prolonged pretrial detention, police and government corruption, widespread domestic violence and child abuse, trafficking in women and girls, and increased reports of racial or ethnic violence and intolerance.

 
The prosecutor’s office sent a legal assistance request to the Israeli Ministry of Justice concerning Yitzhak Arad, former director of the Israeli Holocaust Remembrance Authority Yad Vashem and an anti-Nazi partisan in Lithuania and Belarus during World War II. The prosecutor’s office wanted to inform Arad about “suspicion of possibly committed criminal activities in Lithuania,” including the massacre of Lithuanian partisans and the murder of civilians, and to question him about it. Arad was one of the subjects of a pretrial investigation that the prosecutor’s office began in 2006.
 
In 2005 the government brought criminal charges against Algimantas Mykolas Dailide, alleging collaboration with Nazis and persecution of Jews. In 2006 the Vilnius District Court convicted him of crimes against Jews in Nazi‑occupied Lithuania during World War II, but did not impose a sentence due to the 85‑year‑old convict’s age and infirmity.
 
There are approximately 4,000 Jews in the country. More than 200,000 Jews (approximately 95% of the immediately prewar Jewish population) died in the Holocaust. The country continued to work to better understand its past and to make just recompense for its Holocaust legacy.
 
Anti-Semitism was manifest in acts of vandalism against Jewish graves and monuments, displays of neo-Nazi sentiment, and public anti-Semitic comments. In March 2007 vandals desecrated 12 headstones in the Suderve Jewish cemetery in Vilnius. In July vandals desecrated the Jewish cemetery in Bajorai village, Rokiskis region, on two separate occasions. Media reported that in the second incident thieves intended to steal the fence that surrounds the cemetery. On September 23, Holocaust Memorial Day in Lithuania, a Jewish cemetery in Panevezys was vandalized. Police initiated pretrial investigations in each of these cases, but no suspects were identified by year’s end.
 
In May 2006 several young persons wearing Nazi‑style uniforms and riding Nazi‑era motorcycles drove past the Jewish community center in Vilnius, and community members heard the riders yell slogans glorifying Hitler and belittling Jews. The Vilnius prosecutor’s office initiated a pretrial investigation but by year’s end had not charged anyone with a crime.
 
In April 2007 the Vilnius municipality refused to issue a permit for a public event, sponsored by the European Commission, to promote tolerance and respect for persons with disabilities, homosexuals, and persons of different religions. Municipal officials said they withheld the permits because they were afraid of possible violence by counter-demonstrators. In response to, and at the same place and date for which the tolerance event was planned, a group calling itself “For Morals and Nation” organized an anti-homosexual rally. In May the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman started an investigation to determine if the municipality acted legally by canceling the pro-diversity event. The ombudsman later terminated the investigation due to lack of available information. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), European Commission officials, and some Lithuanian officials criticized the withholding of the permit.
 
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Debate
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Past Ambassadors

Frederick W.B. Coleman
Appointment: Sep 20, 1922
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 5, 1922
Termination of Mission: Left Riga, Oct 20, 1931
Note: Also accredited to Estonia and Latvia; resident at Riga.

 
Robert P. Skinner
Appointment: Sep 23, 1931
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 13, 1932
Termination of Mission: Left Riga, Apr 29, 1933
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Dec 17, 1931. Accredited also to Estonia and Latvia; resident at Riga.
 
John Van A. MacMurray
Appointment: Aug 28, 1933
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 20, 1933
Termination of Mission: Left Kaunas, Feb 13, 1936; departed from Riga Feb 12, 1936
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Jan 15, 1934. Also accredited to Estonia and Latvia; resident at Riga.
 
Arthur Bliss Lane
Appointment: Jan 24, 1936
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 24, 1936
Termination of Mission: Left Riga, Sep 16, 1937
Note: Also accredited to Estonia and Latvia; resident at Riga.
 
Owen J.C. Norem
Appointment: Aug 23, 1937
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 26, 1937
Termination of Mission: Soviet forces occupied Kaunas Jun 15, 1940
Note: Norem left post, Jul 30, 1940. Bernard Gufler was serving as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim when Legation Kaunas was closed Sep 5, 1940.
 
Note: The United States resumed diplomatic relations with Lithuania Sep 2, 1991. Embassy Vilnius was established Oct 2, 1991 with Darryl N. Johnson as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim.
Darryl Norman Johnson
Appointment: Mar 23, 1992
Presentation of Credentials: Apr 14, 1992
Termination of Mission: Left post, May 23, 1994
 
James W. Swihart
Appointment: Aug 26, 1994
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 26, 1994
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jul 16, 1997
 
Keith C. Smith
Appointment: Aug 1, 1997
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 9, 1997
Termination of Mission: Left post Jul 29, 2000
 
John F. Tefft
Appointment: Jun 14, 2000
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 30, 2000
Termination of Mission: Left post May 10, 2003
 
Stephen D. Mull
Appointment: Apr 16, 2003
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 26, 2003
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jun 16, 2006
 
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Lithuania's Ambassador to the U.S.
ambassador-image Pavilionis, Zygimantas

Žygimantas Pavilionis is a career diplomat who became ambassador of Lithuania to the United States in August 2010.

 
Born on August 22, 1971, in Vilnius, Pavilionis grew up with parents who prized higher education; his father, Roland Pavilionis, being an academician and his mother, Mary Pavilionienė Venus, a professor.
 
He attended college at Vilnius University, where he earned a master’s degree in philosophy and postgraduate diploma in international relations.
 
In 1993, Pavilionis joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and worked in the Western European Division, with the rank of third secretary.
 
He was assistant director of policy from 1994-1995, before moving to the Ministry of European Integration, Department of Political Cooperation.
 
He worked in Brussels, Belgium, at the Lithuanian Permanent Mission from 1999-2002.
 
Pavilionis was then promoted to lead the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ European Integration Department from 2002-2004.
 
Most recently, he served as ambassador-at-large and chief coordinator for Lithuania’s presidency of the Community of Democracies, as well as chief coordinator for the Transatlantic Cooperation and Security Policy Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
 
Pavilionis and his wife, Lina Pavilioniene, have four sons.
 
Profile (Washington Diplomat)

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Lithuania's Embassy Web Site in the U.S.
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U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania

McCarthy, Deborah
ambassador-image

The Baltic nation of Lithuania will soon have a new ambassador from the U.S., as President Obama on September 13 nominated career diplomat Deborah Ann McCarthy to serve her first ambassadorship in Vilnius. If confirmed by the Senate, McCarthy would succeed Anne Derse, who has been ambassador since 2009.

 

McCarthy earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics at the University of Virginia, and both an M.A. in Economics and an M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. She also has a Certificate in Airline Strategic Management from the International Air Transport Association. McCarthy worked as a loan officer at a bank before joining the State Department.

 

A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, McCarthy served early career assignments as a financial economist at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, Italy, and at the Department of Treasury, and also as desk officer for Guatemala. She served as economic counselor at the embassy in Port au Prince, Haiti, from 1991 to 1993, and at the embassy in Paris, France, from 1996 to 1998. She was deputy chief of mission at the embassy in Managua, Nicaragua, from 1998 to 2001, and consul general in Montréal, Canada, from 2001 to 2002.

 

Back in Washington, McCarthy served as deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement from 2002 to 2004, senior advisor for Counter Terrorism from 2004 to 2006, and special coordinator for Venezuelan Affairs from 2006 to 2008. She returned to Europe to serve as deputy chief of mission at the embassy in Athens, Greece, from 2008 to 2010. Since September 27, 2010, she has been principal deputy assistant secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, responsible for global economic engagement and negotiations.

 

McCarthy speaks French, Spanish, Greek, Italian and Haitian Creole.

 

- Matt Bewig

 

Official Biography

Deborah A. McCarthy: US is a Good Solid Area to Invest (by Lou Yi, China Daily)

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