Lithuania–United States relations are the

bilateral Bilateral may refer to any concept including two sides, in particular: *Bilateria, bilateral animals *Bilateralism, the political and cultural relations between two states *Bilateral, occurring on both sides of an organism ( Anatomical terms of l ...

foreign relations Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

between

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 ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

is one of the most pro-

nations in the world, with 73% of Lithuanians viewing the U.S. positively in 2011. According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 48% of

Lithuanians 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 ...

approve of U.S. leadership, with 20% disapproving and 32% uncertain.

History

The United States established diplomatic relations with Lithuania on 28 July 1922. During World War II, 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 Soviet invasion and occupation forced the closure of the Legation to Lithuania on 5 September 1940. However,

Lithuanian Diplomatic Service The Diplomatic Service of the Republic of Lithuania () is the part of the governmental service tasked with enforcing the foreign policy set by the President of Lithuania, President, the Seimas, Parliament, and the Government of Lithuania, Governmen ...

in the United States continued uninterrupted. American prisoners of war were among Allied POWs held by the Germans in the Stalag Luft VI

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 ...

in German-occupied Lithuania. The United States never recognized the forced incorporation of Lithuania into the USSR and views the present government of Lithuania as a legal continuation of the interwar republic. In 2007, the United States and Lithuania celebrated 85 years of continuous diplomatic relations. Lithuania has enjoyed most-favored-nation treatment with the United States since December 1991. Since 1992, the United States has committed more than $100 million in Lithuania to economic and political transformation and to

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotiona ...

needs. The United States and Lithuania signed an agreement on bilateral trade and intellectual property protection in 1994 and a bilateral investment treaty in 1997. In 1998, the United States signed a " Charter of Partnership" with Lithuania and the other Baltic countries establishing bilateral working groups focusing on improving regional

security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercion). Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems, or any other entity or ...

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

, and economic issues. Today, over 650,000 individuals who identify as

Lithuanian American Lithuanian Americans refer to American citizens and residents of Lithuanian descent or were born in Lithuania. New Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has the largest percentage of Lithuanian Americans (20.8%) in its population in the United States. ...

live in the United States. Lithuanian immigration began before the United States even became a country, with individuals like Alexander Curtius settling in

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam (, ) was a 17th-century Dutch Empire, Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''Factory (trading post), fac ...

(what would later become

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) in 1659. Lithuania was part of 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 ...

until 1795, when foreign powers partitioned it and Lithuania was largely incorporated into the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. Despite attempts by the

Tsarist Tsarist autocracy (), also called Tsarism, was an autocracy, a form of absolute monarchy in the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire. In it, the Tsar possessed in principle authority and ...

government in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to prevent residents of the empire from emigrating, many Lithuanians came to the United States throughout the 19th and early 20th Centuries, settling primarily in the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...

(especially

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

) and the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

. Lithuanian immigration tapered off with the passage of nativist legislation like the

Emergency Quota Act __NOTOC__ The Emergency Quota Act, also known as the Emergency Immigration Act of 1921, the Immigration Restriction Act of 1921, the Per Centum Law, and the Johnson Quota Act (ch. 8, of May 19, 1921), was formulated mainly in response to the lar ...

of 1921 and the

Immigration Act of 1924 The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins Act (), was a United States federal law that prevented immigration from Asia and set quotas on the number of immigrants from every count ...

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. Smaller waves of Lithuanian migration to the United States occurred at the end of

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 ...

(thanks to the Displaced Persons Act) and when Lithuania regained its independence in 1990. In November 2002,

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

became the first US president to visit

. It was a visit following the

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 ...

invitation to join the alliance. In July 2023, Lithuania hosted 2023 Vilnius summit, receiving the US President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

along with around 40 other leaders. During the visit, President Biden gave a speech in

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...

Ambassadors

Principal U.S. officials include * Ambassador — Kara McDonald * Deputy Chief of Mission — Tamir Waser The U.S.

Embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...

in Lithuania is located in Vilnius (Akmenų g. 6). Principal Lithuanian officials include: * Ambassador - Rolandas KriščiūnasAmabassador
Lithuanian Embassy, Retrieved 1 May 2016 * Executive Assistant to the Ambassador - Eglė Janeliūnaitė * Deputy Chief of Mission - Tomas Gulbinas

Gallery

File:President Biden visit the Presidential Palace in Vilnius before the NATO Summit (3).jpg, President Gitanas Nausėda and President

during the 2023 Vilnius summit File:President George W. Bush and President Valdus Adamkus.jpg, President

and President

Valdas Adamkus Valdas Adamkus (; born Voldemaras Adamkavičius; November 3, 1926) is a Lithuanian politician, diplomat and civil engineer who served as the fifth and seventh president of Lithuania from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2004 to 2009. Adamku ...

File:Secretary Kerry Meets With Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė (2).jpg, US Secretary of State

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

meets with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė File:Vice President Harris met with Prime Minister Simonyte to celebrate 100 years of diplomatic relations between US and Lithuania.jpg, Vice President

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

met with Prime Minister

Ingrida Šimonytė Ingrida Šimonytė (; born 15 November 1974) is a Lithuanian politician, public servant and economist who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Lithuania, prime minister of Lithuania from 2020 to 2024. She has been a Member of the Seimas for the A ...

to celebrate 100 years of diplomatic relations between US and Lithuania File:Secretary Blinken Meets with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Landsbergis (51923406852).jpg, US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken meets with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis File:221215-D-BN624-0155 (52565841696).jpg, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III hosts Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anušauskas File:Look! Up in the sky! , Apache Helicopters join Saber Strike 2015 150613-A-FJ979-007.jpg,

Lithuanian Armed Forces The Lithuanian Armed Forces () are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Navy, the Lithuanian Air Force and the Lithuanian Special Operations Force. In wartime, the Li ...

training together with the

US Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except ...

References

External links

History of Lithuania - U.S. relations

Embassy of the United States

Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to the USA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lithuania-United States relations Bilateral relations of the United States

History

Ambassadors

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links