On 17 June, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius met with the Swedish Minister for Culture and Democracy Alice Bah Kuhnke, who came to Vilnius to take part in human rights events and to express support for the Baltic Pride March for Equality on 18 June.
Linkevičius hailed the excellent and intensive bilateral relations with the Kingdom of Sweden, stressing that cooperation with Sweden and other Nordic and Baltic countries was Lithuania’s key priority. Lithuania’s Foreign Minister also noted that Lithuania was among Sweden’s most important partners and suggested further developing cooperation between civil society actors in the two countries.
According to Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, we must more strongly demonstrate the belief that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, and show our determination to fight discrimination and hate crimes.
As regards the March for Equality of 18 June, Linkevičius highlighted the country’s strong commitment to ensure the right to peaceful assembly, which rested at the core of any functioning democratic system and was closely related to other cornerstones of democracy and pluralism, such as freedom of speech and expression.
