Country profile – LITHUANIA
NAME:
conventional long form: Republic of Lithuania/ Lietuvos Respublika
conventional short form: Lithuania/ Lietuva
CAPITAL CITY:
Vilnius (Population: 579 000)
POPULATION:
3 491 000 (2001 census preliminary figure)
AREA:
65 300 km2
BOUNDARIES:
Land boundaries: Total 1747 km
Border countries: Belarus 724 km, Latvia 610 km, Poland 110 km,
Russia (Kaliningrad) 303 km
Coastline: 99 km
REGIONS/ADMINISTRATI
10 counties divided into 44 districts (rajoni) and 11 municipalities
VE DIVISIONS:
Lithuanian 81 %, Russian 8.5 %, Polish 7 %, Belarussian 1.5 %,
ETHNIC GROUPS:
other 2 %
GOVERNMENT
FORM OF GOVERNMENT
Republic - parliamentary democracy. Present constitution was adopted on 25 October 1992.
HEAD OF STATE
President Rolandas Paksas (elected 5 January 2003). The President is elected for a term of 5 years, on the
basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage. The President represents the state and appoints and
dismisses senior government officials as provided for in the Constitution, approves and publishes laws
adopted by the Seimas or returns them for consideration.
Prime Minister
Algirdas BRAZAUSKAS (since July 2001). The members of Cabinet are appointed by the President, based
on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
LEGISLATURE
Unicameral. Of the 141 members of the Parliament (Seimas), 71 are elected directly by direct popular
vote, 70 by proportional representation. The parliamentary term is four years.
GOVERNMENT - ELECTIONS
Last parliamentary elections took place in October 2000. The governing coalition, which was led by Prime
Minister Rolandas Paksas of the Liberal Union, collapsed on 20 June 2001. On 3 July 2001, the Lithuanian
Parliament confirmed the appointment of Algirdas Brazauskas to form a new government. The present
coalition consists of the Social Democratic Union and the New Union.
PARLIAMENT COMPOSITION: (OCTOBER 2000 ELECTIONS)
PARTY
% VOTE
SEATS
2000
Social Democratic Union
31.08
51
N/A
Liberal Union (LS)
17.25
34
1
New Union (NS/SL)
19.64
29
N/A
Homeland Union
8.62
9
70
Farmers' Party
4.14
4
2
Christian Democrats
3.08
2
16
Christian Democratic Union
4.21
1
11
Modern Christian Democratic Union
2.01
1
N/A
Others
9.97
10
41
SEATS
ECONOMY
Source: European Commission, Progress report, October 2002
1996
EU RELATIONS
EUROPE AGREEMENT
Signed: 12 June 1995, entered into force in February 1998
EU MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION DATE
8 December 1995
EUROPEAN COMMISSION PROGRESS REPORTS
COM (2002) 700
COM (2001) 700
COM(2000) 707
COM(1999) 507
COM(1998) 706
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTIONS ON EC REPORTS
20.11.2002 (A5-0371/2002)
13.06.2002 (A5-0190/2002)
5.09.2001 (A5-0253/2001)
4.10.2000 (A5-0240/2000)
3.12.1998 (A4-0431/1998)
ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS
Opened February 2000. All 31 chapters closed (December 2002). Treaty of Accession signed on 16 April
2003.
PRE-ACCESSION FUNDING
The indicative annual Phare allocation for Lithuania from 2000 to 2002 is € 42 million, including crossborder cooperation. Since 2000, Lithuania is also eligible for assistance from ISPA and SAPARD. ISPA
project financing totalling between € 41.6 and € 62.4 million will be available annually to Lithuania in the
period from 2000. Under the SAPARD programme Lithuania will receive up to € 29.8 million annually.
HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL BACKGROUND
EARLY HISTORY
The Baltic tribes probably arrived in Northeastern Europe towards the beginning of the second millenium
B.C., eventually settling along the Baltic shores. The first recorded mention of Lithuania was in 1009 AD in
the Quedlinburg Annals. The Lithuanian state was founded in the middle of the 13th century by the Grand
Duke Mindaugas. In the fourteenth century, the territory of Lithuania began to expand and the marriage
of Duke Jagiello to a Polish princess in 1385 created a dynastic union. In 1410, Lithuania and Poland
defeated the Teutonic knights at Tannenberg. By the beginning of the fifteenth century, Lithuania was one
of the largest countries in Europe. In 1569, to counter the threat from various enemies to the East,
Lithuania allied itself with Poland to form the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, ruled by an elected king
who was also Grand Duke of Lithuania. From 1648 onwards, the state faced attacks from the Cossacks
and Russians and, in the early 18th century, from Sweden. These wars critically weakened the state and,
in the partitions of Poland which took place between 1772 and 1795 1795, Lithuania was largely annexed
by the Russian Empire.
19TH CENTURY
Uprisings against Russian rule were suppressed in 1830-1831 and 1863, and a policy of "russification"
was conducted. These pressures to assimilate helped to encourage the development of a national
movement from the middle of the century onwards.
 1861: Abolition of serfdom stimulated development of a market economy.
 1863: Lithuanians and Poles rebelled against russification policy.
 1883: First Lithuanian newspaper published in East Prussia - the Lithuanian press was banned in
Russia until 1904.
20TH CENTURY
 1915: Lithuania was occupied by German troops.
 1917-1918: In September 1917, a 'Lithuanian Conference' was convened during the German
occupation. Independence was declared on 16 February 1918 and the Lithuanian Republic proclaimed
in November 1918. A short-lived Boshevik regime was overthrown
 1920-1938: In October 1920, Poland seized the eastern part of the country, including Vilnius. The first
democratic constitution was adopted in August 1922. In December 1926, there was a military coup.
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Nationalist party leader, Antanas Smetona, became President. The new authoritarian regime lasted
until 1940.
1939-1945: The German-Soviet Treaty agreed in September 1939, allowed the USSR to take control
of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed on 21 July 1940 and on 3 August
Lithuania became a Union Republic of the USSR. During the German occupation of 1941-1944, some
210 000 people, mainly Jews, were killed. In 1944, the Soviet army returned and large numbers of
people were deported. Although anti-Soviet partisans continued to resist until 1952, political parties
were disbanded and power was excercised exclusively by the Lithuanian Communist Party (LCP).
Lithuanian agriculture was collectivised and rapid industrialisation took place in the post-war period.
1980s: Lithuanian nationalism, kept alive by underground and exile groups, resurfaced in the
reformist climate following the introduction of the policy of glasnost. In June 1988, the Lithuanian
Movement for Reconstruction (Sajudis) was established and won 36 of the popularly-elected seats in
the all-Union Congress of People's Deputies in March 1989. The LCP began to adopt an increasingly
reformist stance in the face of increasing popular pressure. It declared its independence from the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union in December 1989.
1990: Supreme Council chairman, Vytautas Landsbergis, declared the restoration of independence on
11 March.
1991: The temporary suspension of independence agreed with the Soviets was ended in January. The
subsequent Soviet military intervention strengthened popular resistance, and a referendum in
February 1991 showed 90% support for independence. The collapse of the coup against Michael
Gorbachev in August was followed by recognition of Lithuanian independence by other states. On 6
September 1991, the USSR Council also recognised the independence of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.
1992: First post-Soviet legislative elections took place in October/November under the new electoral
law of July 1992. The Lithuanian Democratic Labour Party (LDLP), the former LCP, gained a working
majority in parliament.
1993: LDLP leader, Mr Brazauskas was elected President in February and Russian troops withdrew
from Lithuania in August.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
 1996: In the October-November elections, the Homeland Union (formerly Sajudis) formed a coalition
government with the Christian Democratic Party of Lithuania.
 1998: In the January presidential election, Valdas Adamkus succeeded Mr Brazauskas.
 2000: In the October parliamentary elections, the LDLP and its electoral coalition partner, the
Lithuanian Social Democratic Party , won the largest number of seats but the 'New Policy Bloc'
coalition of the Liberal Union (LS) and New Union-Social Liberals (NS-SL) was asked to form a
government. Rolandas Paksas (LS) was appointed Prime Minister.
 2001: The NS-SL left the government in June, and a new SD-New Union coalition led by Algirdas
Bazauskas was formed in July.
 2003: In January, Rolandas Paksas was elected President in a run-off against the incumbent, Valdus
Adamkus. In April, the EU Accession Treaty was signed.
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Useful links
European Commission
DG Enlargement
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/lithuania/index.htm
European Commission Delegation in Lithuania
http://www.eudel.lt/
Lithuanian Sites
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - EU Integration
http://www.urm.lt/data/3/index_e.php
Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas)
http://www.lrs.lt/
Lithuanian Search Engines (in English)
http://www.search.lt
http://www.on.lt
Media
Baltic Times (in English)
http://www.baltictimes.com
ELTA agency (English, Lithuania, Russian)
http://w2001.elta.lt/sablonas1.php