Proper waste disposal, a photography exhibition, and educational internships — the Lithuanian Ambassador to Kazakhstan shared the initiatives they are carrying out in the country.
About myself
By the time I finished school, I knew I wanted to be a diplomat, so I studied political science. I started my career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania in 1994, exactly 30 years ago.
For the first 15 years, I worked with Europe during Lithuania's accession to the EU. My first foreign assignment was in France, where I worked at the Lithuanian Embassy. Later, I spent a long time in Belgium. I was responsible for the European Union's relations with six countries: Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
The next chapter of my diplomatic career was focused on the East. In 2015, I was sent to Jordan, where I worked for four years. In 2019, I was appointed as Lithuania’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan, and in 2023, I came to continue my mission as Ambassador in Kazakhstan.
About my work
My work involves supporting political, economic, trade, and cultural relations between Lithuania and the Central Asian countries where I serve as Ambassador.
Every country has the opportunity to appoint honorary consuls in different regions. Here, we have 10 honorary consuls, all of whom are citizens of Kazakhstan. These individuals are not embassy employees and do not receive a salary. Most of them are entrepreneurs with useful contacts and various opportunities. An honorary consul can organize an event or help Lithuanian tourists if they encounter problems. They assist the Embassy voluntarily.
We also have one consul each in Bishkek and Tashkent, who are citizens of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, respectively. Any citizen with the necessary qualifications can apply and, after review, become an honorary consul.
About Central Asia
Astana is a new city, and it stands out from the others. But I’ve traveled a lot around Kazakhstan. The first thing you notice everywhere is the hospitality. You can feel that people do everything from the heart, not because they have to.
Kazakhstan is the main country of my appointment and my home for the coming years. But I have visited all three countries where I also serve as Ambassador. I have been to Tashkent, Bishkek, and Dushanbe.
About working in Central Asia
Bilateral trade between Kazakhstan and Lithuania is well developed, with most economic cooperation taking place in the transport and logistics sector. We also actively collaborate in the field of education. For several years now, Kazakhstani doctors have been coming for internships and training at the medical university in Kaunas. Students also come to us through the Bolashak program. On average, over a hundred students from Central Asia come to study in Lithuania each year.
We are currently discussing two issues: the first is environmental, related to waste management. We want to implement a project to install bottle return machines that give money in exchange for bottles. The amount is small, but it’s an extra incentive to recycle properly rather than throwing bottles in the general waste.
The second issue is a project to fight corruption. We have considerable experience in this area, and the Kazakh side is interested in learning from us.
There are also cultural events. We organized a screening of a documentary about basketball, as it’s a popular sport in Lithuania. There was also a concert by a Lithuanian pianist in Astana. We held an exhibition at the Turkic Academy in Astana on the history and culture of Turkic peoples in Lithuania. This same exhibition will be held at Nazarbayev University starting in September.