Taiwan to Open Representative Office in Lithuania: Foreign Minister

According to [Focus Taiwan], Taiwan is opening a representative office in Lithuania to expand its relations with the Baltic state and other Central European countries, Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) announced Tuesday in a virtual press conference.

The office, to be named "The Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania," will be in Vilnius, Lithuania's capital, Wu said, but he did not disclose when the new mission is expected to open. It will be the first time in 18 years that Taiwan has opened a new representative office in Europe. The last location to be established there was the Taipei Representative Office in Slovakia, in 2003, Wu said.

"The development is very significant as it demonstrates Taiwan's resolve to continue expanding its relations with European countries," he said.

Taiwan and Lithuania will engage in economic, trade, and technological cooperation, Wu said, and he expected bilateral relations to grow as Lithuania has announced it plans to set up an office in Taiwan this fall.

Read More: Hon Hai, TSMC 'signing contracts' to buy COVID-19 vaccines

Photo/Retrieved from Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Facebook page  

More than half of Lithuania's parliamentarians have sent joint letters to the World Health Organization for the past two years in support of Taiwan's bid to participate in the global health body.

In November 2020, leaders of Lithuania's ruling coalition signed an agreement binding the country's new government to carry out a "values-based foreign policy" and "defend those fighting for freedom around the world, from Belarus to Taiwan."

In June 2021, Lithuania pledged to donate 20,000 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to Taiwan as Taiwan faced a surge in Covid-19 cases at that time.

Photo/Retrieved from Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Facebook page  

On Taiwan's side, it donated 100,000 medical face masks to Lithuania at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Read More: President Tsai presents Olympics flag and urges Team Taiwan to go for gold

During the press conference, Wu said Taiwan has no plan to change the names of its current 23 missions in Europe, which all use "Taipei" in their names, except in the Vatican, Taiwan's only diplomatic ally in Europe.