Abstract. - Enjoying independance again, though its international capacity is still obstructed by Russia, Lithuania, where 80% inhabitants are ethnic Lithuanians, the main minorities being Poles and Russians, has granted a full citizenship to all of these peoples as a provisional answer to the question of respective positions of the Nation, the Church and the State. The local industries and employment were wrecked after the collapse of the Soviet Union and in spite of its key position between Western and Eastern Europe Lithuania has received few assistance from the European Union to help and lauch a new industrial policy. Meanwhile the family farms introduced to replace the Soviet style collectives are of greater importance as a cultural and national manifestation than as means for improving productivity.