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European values

The political reality in Lithuania is best characterized by its membership of the European Union and NATO. It defines the national status and the values (democracy, respect for human rights, market economy, etc.) as well as geopolitical goals (security, stability, wellbeing in Europe and elsewhere).

Active EU member

Lithuania is for the European Union which is strong, consolidated and accessible to its citizens as well as capable of competing in the modern global world and effectively ensuring its common and individual national interests. Lithuania favours deeper European integration in terms of internal market, energy and other areas relevant for Lithuania, and consistently tries to be in the forefront of these developments.

Lithuania to preside over the EU

The country is preparing for the EU presidency in 2013. The Lithuanian presidency is expected to substantiate that the EU is in the position to effectively address global challenges and public issues on the basis of consensus between Member States, along with the support of the international community

Contribution to global security through participation in NATO

Participation in NATO activities is understood by Lithuania as contribution to common efforts of the Alliance, aimed at enhanced defence and security. Today, Lithuanian military forces are involved in NATO peacekeeping operations across the world. Lithuania hosts NATO Baltic air-policing mission.

Parliamentary traditions

Lithuania is an independent democratic state. The territory of the State of Lithuania shall be integral and shall not be divided into any State-like formations. These principles of the Lithuanian statehood have been firmly embedded in the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, adopted on 25 October 1992 by way of referendum.

The Constitution provides for the supreme sovereign power to be executed directly by the people or through democratically elected representatives. Sovereign state power is vested in the people of Lithuania and is exercised by the President, the Seimas, the Government and the Judiciary.

The Seimas

The legislative body of the Republic of Lithuania – the Seimas – has 141 members elected for a four-year term on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage, by secret ballot. The election system is mixed: 71 seats contested in single-member constituencies, and the rest in multi-member constituencies (party lists).

The 2008 Seimas has eight political groups: the Political Group of the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats, the National Revival Political Group, the Liberals Movement Political Group, the Liberal and Centre Political Group, the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party Group, the Labour Party Group, Order and Justice Party Group and the mixed political group of members of the Seimas. 

President

The President of the Republic is the head of State. Any person, who is a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania by birth, who has lived in Lithuania for no less than the past three years, who has reached the age of 40 prior to the election day, and who is eligible for election to the Seimas, may be elected President of the Republic. The President of the Republic of Lithuania is elected by the citizens of the Republic of Lithuania on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot for a term of five years. The same person may be elected President of the Republic of Lithuania for no more than two consecutive terms. One of the major responsibilities of the President is foreign policy. The President of the Republic settles basic foreign policy issues and, together with the Government, implements foreign policy. The President is non-partisan. The incumbent President is Dalia Grybauskaitė, elected on 17 May 2009.

Government

The Government of the Republic of Lithuania consists of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. The Prime Minister shall, with the approval of the Seimas, be appointed or dismissed by the
President of the Republic. Upon recommendation of the Prime Minister, the President appoints and dismisses ministers. The Government of the Republic of Lithuania is accountable to the Seimas. Ministers of the Republic of Lithuania are accountable to the Seimas, the President of the Republic and directly subordinate to the Prime Minister.

The current Government has 14 ministries: Environment, Energy, Finances, National Defence, Culture, Social Security and Labour, Transport and Communications, Health, Education and Science, Justice, Foreign Affairs, Economy, Interior and Agriculture. The Government is lead by Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, appointed on 28 November 2008. Andrius Kubilius is the Chairman of the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats. The current Government is primarily focused on public consolidation and immediate efforts towards better Lithuania.

Judiciary

The courts of Lithuania: the Supreme Court of Lithuania, the Court of Appeal of Lithuania, regional and district courts. The Constitution provides for the possibility of establishment of specialised courts for the consideration of administrative, labour, family and other categories of cases. Constitutional supervision is effected by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, comprised of 9 justices, appointed for a nine-year non-renewable term of office. The current President of the Constitutional Court is Kęstutis Lapinskas.

Lithuania‘s policy: international dimension

Lithuania had a very clear ambition of Euro-Atlantic integration, which came true in 2004, when Lithuania became full-fledged member of NATO and the EU. The people of Lithuania endorsed the decision to join the EU by the referendum held on 10-11 May 2003. By the will of the citizens, the Seimas adopted a Constitutional Act on Membership of the Republic of Lithuania in the European Union which provides that the Republic of Lithuania as a Member State of the European Union shall share with or confer on the European Union the competences of its State institutions in the areas provided for in the founding Treaties of the European Union
The Act maintains that the norms of the European Union law shall be a constituent part of the legal system of the Republic of Lithuania. Where it concerns the founding Treaties of the European Union, the norms of the European Union law shall be applied directly, while in the event of collision of legal norms, they shall have supremacy over the laws and other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania.

Lithuania’s EU agenda

Lithuania has been playing an active and successful role in addressing issues of national and EU relevance. Lithuania has made a marked contribution as regards deliberations on issues of future institutional reforms and common European energy policy. In 2008, Lithuania finally made it to the Schengen area opening up more possibilities of free movement for the people of Lithuania. Lithuania is at the top of the list of the EU countries showing best performance in EU law transposition and implementation. The success of Lithuania‘s EU policy has also been confirmed by wide public support for the membership in the EU: it was about 70% on average according to the survey conducted last year.

Major items on Lithuania‘s EU agenda are the following: introduction of the euro, effective operation of EU internal market, reinforced energy security, elimination of energy isolation from the rest of the EU, effective implementation of the Lisbon strategy, efficient utilisation of EU structural support, and viability of EU Neighbourhood Policy. In the very near future Vilnius is to become home for one of the EU institutions: the European Institute for Gender Equality. What is also important, is the preparations for future EU Presidency in the second half of 2013.

European Neighbourhood Policy

It is important to mention Lithuania’s active efforts and achievements in the area of the European Neighbourhood Policy: Lithuania continues to actively pursue EU‘s adequate attention for such Eastern neighbours as Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. The eastern and south-western borders of Lithuania coincide with external EU borders. Therefore, effective border management is a task of European relevance, carried out by Lithuania in cooperation with EU partners. Having treaded on the path of reforms in the lead to the EU accession, Lithuania now is an ardent supporter of EU enlargement, ready to share its experience with EU hopefuls in the East.

Lithuania’s role in confronting international challenges

Through the achievement of the millennium development goals, which are to ensure peace, economic growth and social stability, bridge the gap between developing and developed countries and integrate the developing countries in global economy, Lithuania implements the Policy on Development Cooperation. Following the accession to the EU, Lithuania became an official donor country and has been providing aid to Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, South Caucasus, Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as implementing multilateral aid commitments within the EU format.