Denmark–Lithuania relations
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Denmark–Lithuania relations refers to the historical and current diplomatic relations between Denmark and Lithuania. Lithuania has an embassy in Copenhagen, and Denmark has an embassy in Vilnius. Denmark first recognized Lithuania in 1921 and again on 28 February 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union. Diplomatic relations were established on 24 August 1991. The Danish recognition in 1991 has been described as "extremely important for Lithuania". Both countries are members of the European Union, NATO, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
. Since Lithuanian independence, Denmark has taken a leading role in supporting Lithuania with international recognition and military and internal reforms. Denmark also played a significant role in Lithuania's accession to the EU and maintains a military presence in the country. Relations have been described as a friendly political relationship with strong defence cooperation, and active trade and investment ties. The two countries cooperate closely on the political situation in Belarus and Ukraine with Denmark having sent four
F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it ...
jets to Lithuania in 2022 as a response to the
Russo-Ukrainian crisis The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's R ...
.


History


Early interactions

Interactions have existed between Denmark and Lithuania since the Middle Ages which were intensified after the emergence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Denmark temporarily sided with the Teutonic Order during its war against Poland and Lithuania in 1409–1411.
Prince George of Denmark Prince George of Denmark ( da, Jørgen; 2 April 165328 October 1708) was the husband of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. He was the consort of the British monarch from Anne's accession on 8 March 1702 until his death in 1708. The marriage of Georg ...
was a candidate in the 1674 Polish–Lithuanian royal election. State-to-state level interactions ceased to exist with the dissolution of the Polish–Lithuanian monarchy by the end of the 18th century. In the subsequent period, Lithuania had become an almost unknown culture and territory to the Danes. This changed after Danish traveler and ethnologist Åge Meyer Benedictsen published his oeuvre "''Lithuania – the Awakening of a Nation. Pictures of Lithuanian Culture''" in 1895. It contributed greatly to Lithuania's representation in Denmark.


Early diplomatic relations (1918–1940)

On 26 September 1921, Danish King Christian X endorsed the proposal from the Danish government to recognize Lithuania ''de jure''. Denmark had coordinated this decision with Norway and
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and informed Lithuania of their decision on 28 September 1921. Relations between the two countries were primarily focused on finding common ground on agriculture, infrastructure projects, trade and economic cooperation. At first, Danish businesses wanted to use Lithuania as a bridge to the more difficult Russian market but these hopes were abandoned and activities in Lithuania were more directed towards Lithuanian potential and development. After World War I, as part of the
Polish–Lithuanian War The Polish–Lithuanian War (in Polish historiography, Polish–Lithuanian Conflict) was an undeclared war between newly-independent Lithuania and Poland following World War I, which happened mainly, but not only, in the Vilnius and Suwałki regi ...
, the League of Nations planned on holding a referendum for the future of Vilnius and the border areas between Poland and Lithuania, and approached Denmark to send a small contingency acting as a peace-keeping force for the referendum. However, the referendum was not held and the Danish soldiers never left for Lithuania either.


Relations with Soviet Lithuania (1940–1990)

Diplomatic relations ceased to exist during World War II as Denmark became occupied by Nazi Germany while Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union. No official contacts existed between Denmark and the
Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...
. Denmark never recognized Soviet sovereignty over Lithuania and was the first country to establish diplomatic relations with the new Lithuanian state on 24 August 1991, on the instruction of Foreign Minister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen.


Modern relations


Initial relations (1990–1991)

Prior to the establishment of diplomatic relations, Lithuanian Prime Minister Kazimira Prunskienė had visited Denmark in April 1990 prompting protest from Soviet authorities. However, the Danes responded by stating that the recognition from 1921 was still valid. On 20 December 1990, Lithuanian Foreign Minister
Algirdas Saudargas Algirdas Saudargas (born April 17, 1948) is a Lithuanian politician and the signatory of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania. He was the first foreign minister of post-Soviet Lithuania. He was foreign minister from March ...
visited Copenhagen for the opening of the Baltic Information Office where he also met Ellemann-Jensen. The Baltic Office in Copenhagen played an instrumental role in the establishment of diplomatic relations between Lithuania and other states. The Baltic Office was closed and three separate Baltic embassies were established by the end of 1991. In February 1991, the two countries signed a joint protocol of cooperation in which it is stated that Denmark would continue to support Lithuania on the international scene and that diplomatic relations would sume resume. The Soviet Union reacted strongly to the statement. As diplomatic relations were established in August 1991, Queen Margrethe II insisted on receiving the three visiting Baltic foreign ministers despite being at her summer palace. Some weeks later, Elleman-Jensen visited Lithuania in his first visit to the country.


Military cooperation (1991–2006)

In September 1991, Audrius Butkevičius, General Director of the Lithuanian Defence Department visited Copenhagen where he held various meetings to strengthen military relations, including with Chairman of the Parliamentary Defense Committee
Hans Hækkerup Hans Hækkerup (3 December 1945 – 22 December 2013) was a Danish politician who has served as a member of parliament (Folketing) for the Social Democratic party and as the Minister of Defence from 1993 to 2000 under Poul Nyrup Rasmussen. Early ...
. Hækkerup would later become Minister of Defence in 1993. Lithuania wished to become integrated into the European system of defense and have closer military relations with Denmark. For this, Denmark accredited the Danish Lieutenant Colonel Carsten Barløse as the first Defence Attaché to Lithuania in July 1992. One of the major tasks for the new Defence Attaché was to support the visit of Queen Margrethe II to Lithuania set to take place on 31 July 1992. During her visit, the Queen visited
Antakalnis Cemetery Antakalnis Cemetery ( lt, Antakalnio kapinės, pl, Cmentarz na Antokolu, be, Антокальскія могілкі), sometimes referred as Antakalnis Military Cemetery, is an active cemetery in the Antakalnis district of Vilnius, Lithuania. I ...
. Later same year, a Lithuanian military delegation led by Lieutenant Colonel
Valdas Tutkus Lieutenant General Valdas Tutkus (born 27 December 1960) is a former Chief of Defence of Lithuania. He served in this position from 30 June 2004 to 3 July 2009. Biography From 1978 to 1982, he studied at the Tashkent Higher All-Arms Comman ...
visited Denmark where they met
Chief of Defence The chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked commissioned officer of a nation's armed forces. The acronym CHOD is in common use within NATO and the European Union as a generic term for the highest national military position withi ...
Jørgen Lyng Jørgen Lyng (born 7 March 1934), is a retired Danish general and a former Chief of Defence of Denmark. As a young soldier Lyng received training from SAS, this training among other, enabled him to help establish and complete training for Jæge ...
. This was the first Lithuanian military delegation to another country and as part of the conversations on cooperation, Denmark agreed to train members of the
Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Forces The National Defence Volunteer Forces or NDVF ( lt, Krašto apsaugos savanorių pajėgos [], previously []) is a branch of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. Volunteer forces were officially established on 17 January 1991 by the law of the Supreme Co ...
in Denmark. In March 1994, the first agreement on military cooperation was signed focusing on the modernization of the Lithuanian armed forces. During the meeting, Denmark offered a handful of Lithuanian officers a chance of conducting a tour with the Danish battalion in Croatia where they would be able to collect first-hand impressions from a UN peacekeeping mission. On 16 July 1994, a Danish infantry platoon consisting of 87 men was deployed to Rukla by sea and air visiting different training areas to assess areas where the two armies could cooperate. This became the first NATO army unit on Lithuanian soil and was followed by another Danish military visit the next day as Lockheed C-130 Hercules carrying 75 soldiers landed at Karmelava military airport. The goal of the second unit was to train Lithuanian officers for the mission to Croatia, an operation which would give them international experience. On 22 August 1994, the joint Danish and Lithuanian unit deployed to Croatia as part of the United Nations Protection Force. In 1996, Lithuania also joined Denmark in the
Implementation Force The Implementation Force (IFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peace enforcement force in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a one-year mandate from 20 December 1995 to 20 December 1996 under the codename ''Operation Joint Endeavour''. Background NATO ...
in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in
Kosovo Force The Kosovo Force (KFOR) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO-led international NATO peacekeeping, peacekeeping force in Kosovo. Its operations are gradually reducing until Kosovo Security Force, Kosovo's Security Force, established in 2 ...
in Kosovo and
Dancon/Irak Dancon/Irak (short for ''Danish Contingent/Irak'') was a Danish ground contingent deployed to Iraq from June 2003 to July 2007. History Dancon's units were subordinate to Multi-National Division (South East) ("MND (SE)"), which is responsible fo ...
in Iraq. About a thousand Lithuanian soldiers were trained for these missions. Throughout the 1990s, Denmark had become a staunch supporter of incorporating Lithuania into NATO and the EU and rendered considerable assistance to Lithuania militarily and economically. Lithuania becoming a member of NATO in 2004 was a Danish goal and the military cooperation only continued afterwards. The
Mechanised Infantry Brigade Iron Wolf Mechanized Infantry Brigade "Iron Wolf" (MIB "Iron Wolf") ( lt, mechanizuotoji pėstininkų brigada "Geležinis Vilkas") is the core unit of the Lithuanian Army and forms the country's contribution to NATO collective defence. The name of the b ...
became affiliated with the Danish Division in 2006 and some of its officials were based in Haderslev. From 1996 to 2007, Lithuanian naval officers studied at the Royal Danish Naval Academy and procured 3 Standart Flex 300 vessels from Denmark between 2007 and 2010. In 2011, Danish Defence Minister
Nick Hækkerup Nick Hækkerup (born 3 April 1968 in Fredensborg) is a Danish writer and politician of Social Democrats who has been serving as the Minister of Justice in the Frederiksen Cabinet from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as Minister of Defence, and ...
visited Lithuania.


Danish support for EU membership (1993–2004)

When Denmark took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 1993, the council assured that Lithuania would become a member of the union as soon as the Copenhagen criteria were fulfilled. For this, Denmark supported and mentored Lithuania on wide-range subjects from negotiations with the European Union to local bureaucratic projects. To prepare ten Eastern European countries for EU membership, Denmark began the FEU program of which Lithuania received the most funds and most projects (26% of projects and 33% of committed funds). At the Helsinki European Council in 1999, Lithuania presented the results of their reforms to the council which exceeded expectations, and Denmark could therefore rely on these results in persuading the other EU countries for a Lithuanian membership. As the EU opened negotiations with Lithuania after the Helsinki meeting, Denmark began assisting Lithuania so the latter would be better equipped for the negotiations. Denmark moreover negotiated for financial support from the EU for Lithuania to close down Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant – a prerequisite for membership. In 2002, Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus stated that Denmark was the largest sponsor of the country. Lithuania became a member of the European Union on 1 May 2004.


Visits by Danish Prime Ministers and Lithuanian Presidents

Lithuanian President Rolandas Paksas visited Denmark in April 2003 and Dalia Grybauskaitė in both 2013 and 2016. Conversely, Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen visited Lithuania in 2000, Anders Fogh Rasmussen in 2005,
Helle Thorning-Schmidt Helle Thorning-Schmidt (; born 14 December 1966) is a Danish retired politician who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2011 to 2015, and Leader of the Social Democrats from 2005 to 2015. She is the first woman to have held each p ...
in 2011 and Lars Løkke Rasmussen in 2018. Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen accompanied by leaders of five parliamentary parties paid a visit to the Šiauliai Air Base in late March 2022. The air base hosted Danish F-16 jets.


Trade

Trade between the two countries have been described as healthy. The following table shows the annual trade numbers between the two countries from 1992 to 2020 in euro:


Resident diplomatic missions

* Denmark has an embassy in Vilnius. * Lithuania has an embassy in Copenhagen.


See also

* Foreign relations of Denmark *
Foreign relations of Lithuania Lithuania is a Northern country on the south-eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, a member of the United Nations Organisation, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the Wo ...
* Baltic Air Policing *
Operation Saber Strike Saber Strike is an annual international exercise held since 2010 by the United States Army Europe (USAREUR) focused on the Baltic States. The exercise spans multiple locations in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and involves approximately 2,000 tr ...


Notes


Bibliography

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Further reading

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Denmark - Lithuania Relations
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), 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. Lithuania ...
Bilateral relations of Lithuania