Lithuania: Vocal Defender of Rights and Freedoms in the Region

Parliamentary  elections in Lithuania are scheduled to take place on 11 and 25 October 2020. Vilnius has been a  strong supporter of the Belarusian people in their protests against Lukashenko.  Recently, Lithuania also welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron for  an eye-catching visit. What are the reasons behind Lithuania’s growing  importance in the wider region and to what degree will the upcoming elections shift foreign policy priorities? We speak with Monika Bičkauskaite, Programme Assistant at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, about the  stakes in the election and Lithuania’s changing role in the EU. Visegrad Insight’s  Senior Associate Marcin Zaborowski puts the upcoming elections in a wider  foreign policy perspective. Read Monika’s recent article on Lithuania in the EU: https://www.gmfus.org/blog/2020/09/28/can-lithuania-become-eu-regional-leader-midst-belarus-crisis Recent publications about Lithuania on Visegrad Insight: https://visegradinsight.eu/tag/lithuania/ #Lithuania #EU #Belarus