Lithuania–United Kingdom relations

Lithuania – United Kingdom relations are foreign relations between the United Kingdom and Lithuania.

British–Lithuanian relations

United Kingdom	Lithuania

History

First representation of Lithuania in London, 1919

Although most of the trade between England and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was conducted via Polish port cities, some English merchant ships arrived in the small Lithuanian port town of Palanga in the 17th century.^[1]

Lithuania and the UK formally established diplomatic relations on 20 December 1922. During World War II, Lithuania was at various times occupied by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. The UK never recognised de jure the Soviet annexation of 1940. British prisoners of war were among Allied POWs held by the Germans in the Stalag Luft VI POW camp in German-occupied Lithuania.^[2]

The UK recognised the restoration of Lithuanian independence on 27 August 1991. Both countries re-established diplomatic relations in October 1991.

Embassies and consulates

The United Kingdom has an embassy in Vilnius and an honorary consulate in Klaipėda. Lithuania has an embassy in London and five honorary consulates (in Northern Ireland, Northumberland, Scotland, Wales and the West Midlands).

Overview

There are around 100,000 Lithuanian people living in the United Kingdom. Both countries are full members of NATO.

The current ambassador to Lithuania is Brian Olley, and the ambassador to the UK is Renatas Norkus.

In 2006, the Queen of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II paid a visit to Lithuania.^[3]

Gallery

• 
  British Foreign Secretary William Hague meeting President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė
• 
  President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda greets British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during the 2023 Vilnius Summit
• 
  British Embassy in Vilnius
• 
  Embassy of Lithuania, London
• 
  St Casimir's Lithuanian Church, a Lithuanian-speaking Roman Catholic church in Bethnal Green, London
• 
  RAF Typhoon patrolling over Lithuania as part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission

Resident diplomatic missions

• Lithuania has an embassy in London.
• the United Kingdom has an embassy in Vilnius.

See also

• Foreign relations of the United Kingdom
• Foreign relations of Lithuania
• Lithuanians in the United Kingdom

References

1. Rutkowski, Jan (1923). Zarys gospodarczych dziejów Polski w czasach przedrozbiorowych (in Polish). Poznań. p. 213.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
2. Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. p. 509. ISBN 978-0-253-06089-1.
3. "British queen begins 'historic' visit to Baltics (Roundup) - Monsters and Critics". Archived from the original on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2009-07-18.

External links

• British Foreign and Commonwealth Office about relations with Lithuania
• British embassy in Vilnius
• Lithuanian embassy in London