Visit of Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis to IIRPS VU

Yesterday, the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis visited the Institute of International Relations and Political Science (IIRPS VU). The guest, who was named one of Europe’s most influential leaders in foreign policy in a Politico article in 2021, discussed the importance of leadership in foreign policy and the peculiarities of the Minister’s work with the Institute’s Director, Margarita Šešelgyte and third-year students of the International Politics course.

Landsbergis said that Lithuania’s power of example in the international arena proves that a small country can transform the prevailing narrative and thus influence the parameters of political choice: “When Russia unleashed a horrific war in Ukraine, Lithuania became a narrative maker that changed and is changing the prevailing Western view towards the aggressor.” During the discussion, the Minister reminded the students of the importance of international leadership, not only at the state level but also at the individual level, sharing practical knowledge while being involved in solving global challenges daily: “A principled policy, committed to fundamental values, must continue to remain the basis for all of our decisions,” said G. Landsbergis.

During the discussion, moderated by Margarita Šešelgytė, students and Minister Landsbergis focused and conversed about different styles of leadership, the needed characteristics of individual leaders and heads of state and the way they act in the international arena, and the importance of consensus and the issue of proactivity in foreign policy.