Lithuania – United Kingdom relations are foreign relations between the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. The history of Lithuania's relations with the United Kingdom started on 20 December 1921 with ''de jure'' recognition of Lithuania's statehood. The UK became a key export partner. When Lithuania lost independence, the UK officially closed Lithuania's embassy in London but allowed the ambassador to act in this capacity. On 27 August 1991, the UK recognised the restored state of independent Lithuania and soon thereafter transferred to the Bank of Lithuania the frozen gold reserves of Lithuania. On 4 September 1991, the two countries resumed their diplomatic relations. In addition to intensive economic, military, social cooperation, Lithuania and the United Kingdom stand in close cooperation in the areas of education, science, and culture. Currently, there are 8 bilateral agreements regulating the relationship between Lithuania and the UK in various fields. * The UK recognized the restoration of Lithuanian independence on 27 August 1991. * The United Kingdom has an embassy in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

and an honorary consulate in

Klaipėda Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...

. * Lithuania has an embassy in London and 5 honorary consulates (in Northern Ireland, Northumberland, * Scotland, Wales and the West Midlands). * There are around 100,000

Lithuanian people Lithuanians () are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Americans, United Sta ...

living in the United Kingdom. * Both countries are full members of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

.
British Foreign and Commonwealth Office about relations with Lithuania

Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign affairs: list of bilateral treaties with Poland (in Lithuanian only)

History

Although most of the trade between England and the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

was conducted via Polish port cities, some English merchant ships arrived in the small Lithuanian port town of

Palanga Palanga (; ; ) is a resort town, resort city in western Lithuania, on the shore of the Baltic Sea. Palanga is the busiest and the largest summer resort in Lithuania and has sand, sandy beaches (18 km, 11 miles long and up to 300 metres, 10 ...

in the 17th century. Lithuania and the UK formally established diplomatic relations on 20 December 1922. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Lithuania was at various times occupied by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. 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 Macikai POW and GULAG Camps is the complex of prisoner-of-war camp and forced labor camps located near the village og Macikai (Matzicken) in German-occupied Lithuania and later, the Lithuanian SSR. The camp was opened and operated by Nazi German ...

POW camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, an ...

German-occupied Lithuania The military occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany lasted from the German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, to the end of the Battle of Memel on January 28, 1945. At first the Germans were welcomed as liberators from the repress ...

. 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

. Lithuania has an embassy in London and five honorary consulates (in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, Scotland, Wales and the West Midlands).

Overview

There are around 100,000

living in the United Kingdom. Both countries are full members of

. The current ambassador to Lithuania is , and the ambassador to the UK is Renatas Norkus. In 2006, the

Queen of the United Kingdom The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers regulated by the British cons ...

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

paid a visit to Lithuania.

Gallery

File:President of the Republic of Lithuania (7608821386).jpg, British Foreign Secretary

William Hague William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond (born 26 March 1961) is a British politician and life peer who was Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001 and Deputy Leader from 2005 to 2010. He was th ...

meeting

President of Lithuania The president of the Republic of Lithuania () is the head of state of the Republic of Lithuania. The president directs and appoints the executive branch of the Government of Lithuania, represents the nation internationally and is the commande ...

Dalia Grybauskaitė Dalia Grybauskaitė (; born 1 March 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who served as the eighth president of Lithuania from 2009 to 2019. She is the first and so far only woman to hold the position and in 2014 she became the first President of Li ...

File:Prime Minister Rishi Sunak attends NATO summit (53039324384).jpg, President of Lithuania

Gitanas Nausėda Gitanas Nausėda (; ; born 19 May 1964) is a Lithuanian politician, economist, and banker who is serving as the ninth and incumbent president of Lithuania since 2019. Born in Klaipėda, Nausėda graduated from Vilnius University with an economic ...

greets British Prime Minister

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2022 to 2024. Following his defeat to Keir Starmer's La ...

during the 2023 Vilnius Summit File:Vilnius Britu taryba.jpg, British Embassy in Vilnius File:Embassy of Lithuania in London - 2021.jpg, Embassy of Lithuania, London File:Lithuanian Roman Catholic Church of St. Casimir - geograph.org.uk - 1717292.jpg,

St Casimir's Lithuanian Church St Casimir's Lithuanian Church is in Bethnal Green, London, England. History The mission was founded in 1901, with a church on the corner of Christian Street and Cable Street. Fr Boleslas Szlamas had his quarters at 197 Whitechapel Road. The p ...

, a Lithuanian-speaking Roman Catholic church in

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

File:RAF Typhoon Over Lithuania MOD 45157539.jpg, RAF

Typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

patrolling over Lithuania as part of the

Baltic Air Policing The Baltic air-policing mission is a NATO air defence Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) in order to guard the airspace above the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Mission Within the Alliance, preserving airspace integrity is ...

mission

Resident diplomatic missions

* Lithuania has an embassy in

. * the United Kingdom has an embassy in

References

External links

British Foreign and Commonwealth Office about relations with Lithuania

British embassy in Vilnius

Lithuanian embassy in London
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lithuania-United Kingdom relations Bilateral relations of the United Kingdom