Lithuania

**Lithuania**, officially the **Republic of Lithuania**, is a country in Northern Europe on the Baltic Sea. Its bordered by Latvia, Poland and Russia, as well as a maritime border with Denmark and Sweden.

## History

### Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Century

During World War I, the Council of Lithuania declared the independence of Lithuania and the re-establishment of the Lithuanian State on 16 February 1918. Lithuania's foreign policy was dominated by territorial disputes with Poland and Germany. The Vilnius Region and Vilnius, the historical capital of Lithuania, were seized by the Polish army during Żeligowski's Mutiny in October 1920 and annexed two years later by Poland. For 19 years Kaunas became the temporary capital of Lithuania. The Polish occupation of Vilnius was greatly resented by Lithuania; there were no diplomatic relations between the two states for most of the period between the two World Wars.

The Soviet Union returned Vilnius to Lithuania after the Soviet invasion of Eastern Poland in September 1939. In June 1940, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed Lithuania in accordance to the secret protocols of Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. A year later the Soviet Union was attacked by Nazi Germany, leading to the Nazi occupation of Lithuania. After the retreat of the German armed forces, the Soviets re-established the annexation of Lithuania in 1944. Under border changes promulgated at the Potsdam Conference in 1945, the former German Memelland, with its Baltic port Memel, was again transferred to Lithuania, or as it was after 1945 the Lithuanian SSR.

The advent of *perestroika* and *glasnost* in the late 1980s allowed the establishment of Sąjūdis, an anti-Communist independence movement. After a landslide victory in elections to the Supreme Soviet, members of Sąjūdis proclaimed Lithuania's independence on 11 March 1990, becoming the first Soviet republic to do so. The Soviet Union attempted to suppress the secession by imposing an economic blockade. Soviet troops attacked the Vilnius TV Tower, killing 14 Lithuanian civilians and wounding 600 others on the night of 13 January 1991. On 31 July 1991 Soviet paramilitaries killed seven Lithuanian border guards on the Belarusian border in what became known as the Medininkai Massacre.

On 4 February 1991, Iceland became the first country to recognise Lithuanian independence. After the Soviet August Coup, independent Lithuania received wide official recognition and joined the United Nations on 17 September 1991. The last Soviet troops left Lithuania on 31 August 1993 – even earlier than they departed from East Germany.

### Baltic Crisis

 *See Full Article: Baltic Crisis*

In April 2019, while the world was in the throes of the Great Recession, Russian President Vladimir Putin mobilized Russian forces on the borders of the three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. These three countries, Poland and Finland mobilized in response in preparation for possible war with Russia. The EU had become increasingly dependent on Russian gas and food due to the unrest in the United States and other parts of the globe. Russian control over former Ukraine also gave Moscow increased leverage over global food supplies.

After intense negotiations in Moscow between Russian diplomats and envoys from the European Union, the two sides agreed to demobilize. However, in a huge geopolitical victory for Putin, the main EU states recognized Russia's expanded borders in exchange for the resumption of Russian oil, natural gas and grain shipments at preferential prices. This sparked riots by Ukrainians in the European Union and created a sharp wedge between Brussels and Washington with the later continuing to oppose Vladimir Putin.

## Government and Politics

The Lithuanian head of state is the President, elected directly for a five-year term and serving a maximum of two consecutive terms. The post of president is quite ceremonial; main policy functions include foreign affairs and national security. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the military. The President also appoints the Prime Minister and, on the latter's nomination, the rest of the cabinet, as well as a number of other top civil servants and the judges for all courts.

The unicameral Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has 141 members who are elected to four-year terms. 71 of the members of this legislative body are elected in single member constituencies, and the other 70 are elected in a nationwide vote by proportional representation. A party must receive at least 5% of the national vote to be eligible for any of the 70 national seats in the Seimas.

### Administrative Divisions

Lithuania has a three-tier administrative division: the country is divided into 10 counties that are further subdivided into 60 municipalities which consist of over 500 elderships. Each municipality has its own elected government. In the past, the election of municipality councils occurred once every three years, but it now takes place every four years. The council appoints elders to govern the elderships.

### Foreign Relations

Lithuania became a member of the United Nations on 18 September 1991, and is a signatory to a number of its organizations and other international agreements. It is also a member of the European Union, NATO and its adjunct North Atlantic Coordinating Council. Lithuania gained membership in the World Trade Organization on 31 May 2001. It also seeks membership in the OECD and other Western organizations. The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) was established in 1992 in Copenhagen as an informal regional political forum, which main aim is to promote integration process and to affiliate close contacts between the countries of the region. The members of CBSS are Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Russia and the European Commission.