Lithuanian Policy Research Articles

Sowieckie ludobójstwo i prawo międzynarodowe. Litewskie zmagania ze zbrodniami ZSRS w świetle orzeczenia Europejskiego Trybunału Praw Człowieka w sprawie Drelingas

The aim of the paper is to analyze the endeavors undertaken by the authorities of independent Lithuania to deal with the crimes committed by the Soviet Union against Lithuanian society, in particular against representatives of the anti-Soviet resistance movement, by using the notion of crime of genocide rooted in international law. The judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Drelingas v. Lithuania of 12 March 2019, which approved the legality of the qualification of “ethno-national-political” genocide of “forest brethren” committed by the Soviet occupation authorities, was one of the key elements confirming the Lithuanian policy in this regard. This ruling reopens the discussion on the possibility of trying the crimes of the Soviet Union, at the same time raising certain legal and political doubts – as generally expressed by the Russian Federation.

THE PECULIARITIES OF LEGAL REGULATION OF THE REFUGEE INTEGRATION SYSTEM IN LITHUANIA

In recent years the European Union has experienced an unprecedented influx of refugees and asylum seekers that has continued up until now. This issue is relevant to Lithuania as well, since the country has committed to host 1105 asylum seekers from Greece and Turkey, and their successful integration to large extent depends on legislation adopted by the Government. The present article analyses the concept of the international asylum law and the peculiarities of legal regulation of the refugee integration system in Lithuania. Both the analysis of legislative documents and experience in working with refugees has disclosed a gap between the existing theoretical system and its implementation in practice. The author discloses the problems of the refugee integration, when regulation of the social relationships is required; however there is no relevant legal norm that could be applicable in a particular case. The article also discusses the priorities and regulatory documents of the Lithuanian policy on integration; however the main focus is made on the theoretical analysis of the Description of the Procedure for Providing State Support for the Refugee Integration and – referring to the practical experience – on insights into its implementation measures. The analysis has disclosed that implementation of the refugee integration measures is hindered due to lack of a long-term policy on the refugee integration in Lithuania, lack of collaboration between the state and private sector and prevalent negative attitudes in the society; the above factors result in loss of interrelation between the legal norms and the social relationships that are to be regulated.

FACEBOOK GRUPĖS IR TAPATYBĖS RIBŲ BRAIŽYMAS

The object of this publication is the social network Facebook groups identity. After research, it has been observed that the symbolic groups identity fragmentation represents political and ideological aspects. Socialism and its restoration became the ideological political basis uniting analysed groups members. The group’s members estimate the current Lithuanian political governance system considering the Soviet period ideology, but in the other hand identifying themselves as Lithuanians. It seems that analysed Facebook groups members has experienced identity stagnation and has not changed orientation together with new accepted country’s political ideology. The analysis showed that two “others” categories has emerged: Lithuanian governance, the political elite and compatriots that is not resists Lithuanian policy. In order to highlight the “others” the ruling elite of Lithuania is equated with Jews to split them from the entire nation and anti-resist Lithuanians is equated with lower mental level people. The current liberal democracy and the struggle against it become a grouping factor of analysed group members. A strong group identity maintained in virtual space is not supported in real space. The lack of physical contact between groups members makes it possible to assume that virtual community identity is maintained only in the virtual space.

‘Troubling’ Migrant Families: Representations of Family and Migration in Official Lithuanian Policy Documents

This chapter set up to examine the language of ‘family’ in key policy documents regulating family life in Lithuania. Drawing on theoretical ideas of Ribbens McCarthy the authors look into the ways of framing of family life, identify scripts of ‘normal’ family, and analyse how these, in turn, sought to portray migrant families as ‘troubling’. The research presented here was carried out in January-May 2018 and formed a sub-study of the project ‘Global Migration and Lithuanian Family: Family practices, circulation of care and return strategies’ (2017–2019) funded by the Lithuanian Research Council. Analysis of the strategic policy documents regulating family life in Lithuania in the period from 1995 to 2018 has revealed that the imagined orders of family life evolve over time, which explains the changes in the language used to describe family lives. The authors have identified the ways of portraying Lithuanian ‘family’ as ‘normal’, ‘harmonious’, and ‘sovereign’, and examined how legislators ‘troubled’ migrant families or – in a long run – depicted them as ‘sovereign, but silenced’ and as ‘important, but mysterious’.

Lithuania in European Union common security and defence policy context

EU Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) that encompasses 29 nations is gaining momentum. The aim of this study is to acknowledge ongoing developments in EU CSDP and define their impact for Lithuanian defence and security policy. Comparative scientific literature and document analysis method was used throughout this study. Article firstly reviews a path of EU CSDP developments, outlines roles and responsibilities of EU structures and examines current activities in CSDP framework with the focus to Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). Second part is devoted to consider Lithuanian’s role in current EU CSDP context, to outline decisions that Lithuanian authorities made to implement new PESCO initiative. Study reveals that: CSDP remains adaptive framework for EU; established procedures ensure CSDP is in compromise with all of nations; PESCO initiative signals positive outcomes while reinforcing idea of “EU Strategic autonomy”. Furthermore it was indentified that: approved National Security Strategy backs current EU initiatives; PESCO could provide flexible response options without duplicating NATO’s efforts; national participation in PESCO initiatives will enable improvements in cyber security and will enable rapid access for possible EU and NATO troops deployments; participation in PESCO negotiation phase reached given political aims to seek more extensive projects and position nation within core members of EU. Lithuanian policies’ shift for deeper engagement in CSDP is likely shaped by recognition that strategic trans-Atlantic partnership is not certain anymore, as well as UK role at post-Brexit period as 3rd party. <b></b> <b></b>

The impact of Nordic adult education ideas on the development of a democratic society in Lithuania

This article analyses the role of the cooperation with and the influence of the Nordic countries on the development of a democratic society in Lithuania through adult education since the reinstatement of its independence from Soviet regime in March 1990 to the present. The authors focus on three main areas: (1) the training of Lithuanian adult educators; (2) the establishment and development of NGOs; and (3) the implications for a Lithuanian policy of adult education. Within the framework of Nordic-Baltic cooperation established among five Nordic and three Baltic countries (NB8) in 1992, Lithuanian adult educators seized the opportunity to visit Scandinavian institutions and projects. Experiencing Nordic adult education ideas has resulted in a marked shift in Lithuanian adult educators’ values, methodology and careers; and in the establishment of a series of very influential umbrella associations as well as hundreds of NGOs in Lithuania which work with adults and support functioning democratic values in society. This shift is related to the civic responsibility and active participation growing out of the bottom-up approaches of group work, cooperation, discussions and learning circles which are so inherent in the Nordic tradition of adult education. The internalisation of new democratic values was more complicated than expected for many Lithuanian politicians, adult educators and NGO leaders in terms of how political decisions were perceived and implemented. Furthermore, the influence of the Nordic-Baltic cooperation in adult education may also be traced in adult education policy implications in Lithuania. Some changes in the policies of contemporary Lithuania have not been successful and even failed to promote a democratic society.

Lietuvos socialinės įtraukties politika: kodėl ji būtent tokia?

Straipsnyje siekiama galima atsakyti į klausimą, kodėl Lietuvos socialinės įtraukties politikos profilis yra būtent toks, koks jis yra. Kritiškai aptariamas socialinės įtraukties politikos konvergenciją turėjęs ir vis dar turintis skatinti atviro koordinavimo metodas bei naujas Europos Sąjungos politikų ir biurokratų rengiamas instrumentas Europos socialinių teisių piliorius (European Pillar for Social Rights). Apibūdinant socialinės įtraukties politikos profilį ir iliustruojant jį konkrečiais socialinės politikos pavyzdžiais, formuluojama socialinės politikos konvergencijos ir divergencijos dichotomija. Ieškant paaiškinimo, kodėl socialinės įtraukties politika, užuot konvergavusi, diverguoja, pasitelkiamos priklausomybės nuo tako teorija, kuri pabrėžia transakcinius institucinių konsteliacijų kaitos kaštus, ir socialinio žinojimo tipologijos teorija, kuri suteikia įrankių aiškintis, kaip institucinės konsteliacijos įsitvirtina skirtingose socialinio žinojimo struktūrose. Straipsnyje aptariami Lietuvoje atliktų tyrimų duomenys, kurie galėtų būti priskiriami ekspertų ir gerai informuotų piliečių socialinio žinojimo tipams. Lietuvos socialinės įtraukties politikos ekspertai ir šioje srityje dirbantys specialistai, kurie atitinka gerai informuoto piliečio apibrėžimą, yra linkę sureikšminti griežtas taupymo priemones ir socialinės kontrolės didinimą.

Žinoma ir nežinoma Lietuvos garbės konsulo Bostone Antano Osvaldo Šalnos veikla (1939–1971) / Known and Unknown Activities of Lithuanian Honorary Consul in Boston Antanas Osvaldas Šalna (1939–1971)

Žinoma ir nežinoma Lietuvos garbės konsulo Bostone Antano Osvaldo Šalnos veikla (1939–1971) / Known and Unknown Activities of Lithuanian Honorary Consul in Boston Antanas Osvaldas Šalna (1939–1971)

LIETUVOS RESPUBLIKOS SEIMO PRIORITETINIŲ TEISĖS AKTŲ DARBOTVARKĖS KAITA 2005–2015 METAIS

Research based on agenda mapping and an analysis of the changing priority issues of governments is a new trend in the field of public policy analysis. Systematic indicators and universal codebooks have been developed in order to compare issue attention longitudinally, across decision-making venues and between countries. However, despite the increased interest in the subject internationally, this field of study has been neglected in Lithuania – no systematic longitudinal analysis of the Lithuanian political agenda has been conducted so far. Therefore, this article aims to fill the gap by analysing changes of the legislative agenda of the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas).Data for the quantitative analysis was collected from the working programmes of 19 ordinary sessions of the Seimas between 2005 and 2015 and coded according to the Comparative Agendas Project’s Master Codebook. We sought to describe the general trends of the Parliament’s legislative agenda and to explain the main causes behind certain policy punctuations. We also analysed the EU’s influence on the Parliament’s agenda and the distribution of power between the legislative and the executive branches of power in formulating a list of priority legal acts. In order to answer these questions, six hypotheses were tested in our article.The results of our analysis revealed that the Lithuanian political agenda cannot be characterised as stable because a number of major agenda fluctuations occurred in the period between 2005 and 2015. Some of the policy punctuations coincided with elections as foreseen under the standard model, while other changes were disjoint and abrupt in line with the punctuated equilibrium theory. However, we observed incremental agenda changes in some, less politically sensitive, policy areas. Moreover, our research indicated the important role of external shocks – during the economic crisis political attention was allocated mostly to economy, taxes and public sector management, while the crisis in Ukraine increased focus on national defence issues. Finally, we found no evidence that the EU’s influence on the Lithuanian policy agenda is decreasing in the post-accession period. Taking the overload of the agenda of the Seimas into consideration, these punctuations reduce the ability of the legislature to adopt high quality legislation and to effectively solve public policy issues.

O litovskoi politike vo vremia Pervoi mirovoi voiny: territorial'no-geopoliticheskii aspekt | On Lithuanian Policy in the Years of the First World War: a Territorial-Geopolitical Aspect

The paper discusses the territorial-geopolitical aspect of the Lithuanian policy during the FirstWorld War, which is still not sufficiently studied or properly understood. It concerns the strategicline proposed by members of Lithuania’s conservative elite. The visible side of the linewas a game of orientations: first pro-Russian, then pro-German. However, these orientationswere based on an ethnographic principle, which created preconditions for the practical developmentof the Lithuanian nation. On the other hand, the ethnographic principle was relatedto the idea of national self-determination, raised by the democratic thought, which paved theway for Lithuanian national statehood. Therefore, the strategic line offered by some of theLithuanian elite went beyond party ideology and became national. Key Words: ethnographic territory, the Nemunas basin, Suwalki Gubernia, Vilnius, geopolitical ally DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/ahuk.v31i0.1203

The issue regarding “the reform of the union” of Lublin in Lithuanian policy in the period of three interregna following the death of king Sigismund Augustus (1572–1588) (English)

The issue regarding “the reform of the union” of Lublin in Lithuanian policy in the period of three interregna following the death of king Sigismund Augustus (1572–1588) (English)

LIETUVOS RESPUBLIKOS VYRIAUSYBĖS VEIKLOS PRIORITETAI: KAIP ANALIZUOTI JŲ ĮGYVENDINIMO PROCESĄ IR REZULTATUS?

Implementation of government commitments is one of the most relevant issues of public policy studies. A gap between electoral pledges, government priorities and their practical execution brought disappointment in many democratic countries and attracted significant attention from public policy researchers. This article elaborates a theoretical framework and sets several hypotheses for analysing the process of implementing performance priorities of the Lithuanian government and achieving their results. It argues that public policy decisions can be best explained by the interaction of advocacy coalitions in different policy subsystems. This process is affected by various external factors and events, which are usually an important but not sufficient condition for realising policy commitments. Within policy subsystems, it is necessary to assess beliefs, resources, and behavioural strategies of advocacy coalitions, coordination among different competing coalitions, leadership of policy change, performance management and policy learning during the implementation process. Also, in order to understand the execution of political priorities, it is important to take into account such important factors as the level of policy ambition and political attention throughout implementation. Moreover, any assessment of Lithuanian policy implementation should address such country-specific issues as fragmentation in the Lithuanian party system and competition between two blocs of political parties, the influence of the EU and Russia on the public policy process, and reform constraints imposed by decisions of the Lithuanian Constitutional Court. This theoretical approach will be employed for explaining the implementation of six major performance priorities of the Lithuanian Government 15 led by Prime Minister A. Kubilius: (1) preparations to build the Visaginas nuclear power plant; (2) higher education reform; (3) civil service reform; (4) restructuring the network of personal health care organisations; (5) structural reform of the social sector, and (6) execution of the housing renovation programme. A public policy research agenda focused on the analysis of government commitments can be also applied to assessing how specific political priorities or other policy decisions are carried out in Lithuania and other democratic states, as well as to explaining successes and failures of their implementation process. Causal process tracing can be employed for the within-case and between-case analysis of policy studies. Theoretically developed and empirically rich policy studies following this research agenda would provide interesting insights on policy implementation to researchers, politicians, civil servants, various policy stakeholders, and even citizens.

KRITINIS POŽIŪRIS Į LIETUVOS UŽSIENIO POLITIKĄ: KAS PASIKEITĖ NUO AUGUSTINO VOLDEMARO LAIKŲ?

In the article, Lithuanian foreign policy is analysed as paying specific attention to the link between the national identity and foreign policy. According to the authors, this link could be the key in analysing the question, if in truth Lithuanian foreign policy has reached a particular point, which could be named as international isolation or at least a tendency towards it, and if yes, – then why? Critically, authors are discussing what has been done during the past five years in the field of Lithuanian foreign policy. It is suggested that Lithuania has abandoned the attitudes of the bridgehead and outpost, and the actions based on the conflict, nonap­pellant integrity and vain preaching. At the same time it is essential not to forget one of the most important condi­tions, thanks to which, for instance, membership in the Alliance became real, this is the principle of sound coexistence with neighbours which was mentioned on nu­merous occasions. Undoubtedly this rule is relevant in regard to EU membership. Whilst using the advantages of Euro-Atlantic structures, the faulty “bandwagoning” bait should be put away and try to move to the normal balancing in the boundaries of Lithuanian collective commitments. Briefly, Lithuania has to start being more self confident. First of all, in the Lithuanian foreign policy it would mean the implementa­tion of a rational syncretism for solving the problem of the national identification and the state geopolitical code compatibility. Corrections in domestic politics are needful as well. It should move to the demo­cratic “legalisation” of the existing Lithuanian political trends. This should help to defeat the especially vicious practice, when politicians are afraid of the charges of post soviet collaboration, particularly distinguished by the “actions against soviet heritage” campaigns, actually brought Lithuanian policy to the interest of foreign countries. That is exactly why it is worth coming back one more time to the so called lus­tration process, naming it more precisely the – soviet inheritance denial process. It is obvious, that the current spread of this process, its extent and forms are not ser-ving the Lithuanian political moral climate and national security, because during the current process two different subjects are confounded: the discloser of the foreign countries agents and internal political action. Of course the line between them could be vague sometimes, but it will exist if the struggle among various political orienta­tions will work out democratically, and the threat from the foreign agency will be differentiated. One way the agency is expressing its threat when the state is leading the confrontational foreign policy, and the other – when keeping the constructive international relationship. Herewith, it is noticed that it would be a big mistake to go to the extremes, even­tually even trying to reconsider the feasibility of EU and NATO membership. Euro-Atlantic institutions remain the major guarantee of stability in Europe, including Lithuania. Once again it is necessary to underline, that the change of foreign policy course in any case is risky. First of all because changing the foreign policy direction could inevitably change the power distribution structure, in which Lithuania exists. It could stimulate the particular retreat of the USA, the progressive dissociation of the Eu­ropean Union, and Russia would fill the emerged vacuum. It is likely, that Russia would interpret the changes in Lithuanian foreign policy as a sign of weakness and would strengthen the imperial pressure. Also, the assumption, that the USAwould express it’s discontentment in particular means: starting with financial and finishing with eventual secret destabilising actions, should not be eliminated. However, presumptive difficulties shouldn’t intimidate, raise pessimistic moods and lead to passivity. The refusal of the destructive orientation, it means zero sum­mation game as the specific practice in the state foreign policy, and shifting to the positive, “win-win” paradigm would mean the change of the orientation in the coop­eration partners selection – from various power action exponent to zero summation players. It is also necessary to keep in mind that previously discussed Lithuanian foreign policy faults considerably settled because of the inadequate reality signals sent by Lithuania about itself and about the real or assumed dangers.

The First Decade of Lithuania in the European Union: between Meta-Political Values and “Pragmatic” Politics

At present, the accommodative and technocratic policy of Europe, dominant in Lithuania (as well as in the European Union), is pushing Lithuania (and the European Union) to the margins of global politics, and it reflects the inability to fight for Lithuania’s meta-political interests in the European Union and the region. With a decade of its membership in the European Union at hand, Lithuania has not yet formulated a strategic vision of its presence in the European Union; all the previous attempts to develop such a strategy have been exhausted or failed; meanwhile the strategic capabilities of Lithuania are consistently weakening. The main objective of this article is to enrich the current technocratic policy with a meta-political, values-based, strategic dimension. Seeking the best feasible alternatives for the horizontal and fragmented level of Lithuania’s studies on Europe, the researcher has consciously chosen the European policy of the Holy See which stands out as to its verticality, capability to maintain the continuity of its principles and essential goals and its impact on the formation of Europe itself. It is an attempt to find the most general attitude to the European Union perspective which is lacking in the current discussions on European policy in Lithuania and in the policy itself. Christian meta-politics provides Lithuania with a possibility to consciously choose a positive rather than negative freedom in Europe. A positive freedom in the European Union would enable Lithuania to maintain its political and cultural identity, and would grant it a weighty role in the region, the European Union and the world. In its own turn, in the social and economic areas a Christian metapolitics would strengthen societal integrity, solidarity, personal and communal responsibility, and would enhance humanity—an action in short supply in Lithuanian policy.

Intellectual Property Rights within the University: The Lithuanian and US Examples

The article revises the intellectual property rights within the university, from the perspective of facilitating and commercializing faculty creativity. The objective of the article is to critically asses the state of the US and Lithuanian policies for the intellectual property rights within the university, and producing of proposals for the adjustment of the technology transfer model and increasing the efficiency thereof. Particular focus is given for the so called university technology transfer office practices by providing a glimpse at their practical effects. The experience of the Arizona State University is assessed and compared to the recent Lithuanian initiatives on the matter. The authors conclude that the technology transfer office model is may have unexpected secondary benefits for the universities, however may need to be adjusted in order to address inefficiencies thereof, which are prohibitive for small universities and countries.

European Union Sanctions Policy

This article analyses the sanctions policy conducted by the European Union and names it one of the most frequently used instruments of its foreign policy. It also shortly encompasses the sanctions imposed to the third countries by the EU, putting a special emphasis on the restrictions to the states not subject to the United Nations sanctions. The article concludes that, despite the active usage of the sanctions instrument by the EU, they can be assessed as a political signal to a target country but without any concrete impact on its internal or external policies. A long list of sanctioned country over time corresponds to this conclusion. The article describes the Lithuanian policy in implementing the sanctions as well as states that there is no national legislation in Lithuania in order to impose unilateral sanctions.

Lithuania's children's policy in the period of transition

The article investigates the welfare regime of the free Lithuanian Republic from the perspective of children's policy. The main principles of the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – child protection, child provision and child participation – serve as indicators for the level of child orientation. The article analyses legal and institutional issues related to the implementation of the Convention in Lithuania in the first decade of Independence 1990–2001. Furthermore, it compares Lithuanian policy with the three welfare regimes identified by Esping‐Andersen. Our results indicate that Lithuanian policy shows a low level of child orientation and that the Lithuanian welfare regime does not correspond to any of the welfare regimes in Esping‐Andersen's typology. Lithuania still shows traits from the former Soviet regime. The new liberal extreme market orientation is not modified by social support institutions, and is combined with conservative ideologies on women and family.

Environmental management accounting in Lithuania: exploratory study of current practices, opportunities and strategic intents

There is a growing consensus among the Lithuanian policy makers, practitioners and industrialists that environmental policy must move from a reactive stance to a more proactive, sustainable development approach. As a result, many companies are increasingly interested in the application of economic incentives at least as supplements or reinforcements of environmental standards. The Institute of Environmental Engineering (EU Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Industrial Development (APINI – SID)) in 1992–2003 has been involved in introduction and implementation of preventive environmental strategy in industry in Lithuania and in other countries. In Lithuania, these efforts resulted in the implementation of more than 200 cleaner production innovations in more than 150 Lithuanian companies. It should be stressed that effective plant maintenance is becoming a higher priority to plant managers. It is important to ensure cost-savings, at all levels, that include maximizing productivity and implementing energy-saving approaches. Effective and efficient maintenance are not just desirable, but fundamental to profitable business operations. Therefore, central to the environmental view of sustainable development is the concept that economic and social systems are sub-systems of the global environment. APINI's experience shows that decision-makers at the company level often fail to recognize the economic values of natural resources as assets as well as the business and financial value of good environmental performance. Therefore, there is a need to upgrade the business decision-making process by including information on material flows and related costs to account for efforts of sustainable development [Staniskis JK, Stasiskiene Z. Promotion of cleaner production investments: international experience. Journal of Cleaner Production 2002;11(6):619–28. ISSN: 0959-6526, Elsevier Science]. Decisions are increasingly affected by environmental costs. Application of environmental management accounting (EMA), which integrates two of the main principles of sustainable development – environment and economics, can help to significantly improve corporate decision-making. EMA is becoming increasingly important not only for environmental management decisions and development of environmental management systems (EMS), but also for all types of routine management activities, such as product and process design, cost allocation and control, capital budgeting, purchasing, product pricing and performance evaluation. Companies, which use EMA as a part of integrated management system, are provided with accurate and comprehensive information for the measurement and reporting of environmental performance. This paper investigates the current state of EMA practices in Lithuanian SMEs that have already been or are being implementing EMS and which have implemented CP innovations. In this case, EMA is analysed as an innovative assessment and evaluation method of EMS and CP innovation's environmental impacts and economic benefits. It should be stressed, that there are obvious differences in case studies from different industries. However, review of the results shows that there are many similarities in what improvements can be suggested for environmentally concerned companies both in terms of environmentally sound operation and for reporting of environmental management accounting information.

Diplomatijos pinklės ir sustabarėjusi mąstysena : politikų peripetijos dėl "vidurio Lietuvos"

Before World War I, the Lithuanians had already become a monocultural and ethnocentric nation. On the basis of a new theory about Lithuanianhood, the Lithuanian politicians had developed a distinctive formula of statehood, which they successfully applied in their relations with Germany. The Polish politicians, especially Pilsudski, used the idea of historical statehood for the sake of modern Polish imperialism. They could treat the Lithuanian policy as a sign of weakness. In this context, the Byelorussians were seeking to strengthen their ethnographic identity. Thus they were ready to support either the Poles or the Lithuanians. Želigowski's Central Lithuania could be treated as a kind of Polish historical statehood. For Pilsudski, Central Lithuania was just a stage in his far-reaching plans. On the territory of Belarus, its analogue was advocated by Balahovich. The Lithuanians were strongly against Pilsudski's insinuations, yet their inflexible position did not help to solve the problem. Riga's peace decisions made by the Soviets and the Poles helped Zeligowski but disrupted Pilsudski's plans. On October 28,1920, the Union of Nations made a decision to hold a plebiscite between Lithuania and Poland on the territory of Central Lithuania, and this decision was a final blow for its future.

Scandinavia in Lithuanian Diplomacy in 1915-1917

1914-1917 Lithuanian politics suggested the Lithuania orientation question and decided to choose - The West - during Vilnius Lithuanians' conference on 18-22 September 1917. The Northern orientation of Lithuanians wasn't so actual in conforming with the West orientation, but it didn't mean that orientation to Scandinavia wasn't fixated in Lithuanians' political mentality. The facts in archive documents, old press, memoirs of M. Yčas, J. Tumas Vaižgantas, V. Bartuška, and the Lithuanian historians such as R. Lopata, A. Eidintas, A. Gaigalaitė. These materials obviously explore that the tradition of Lithuanians' diplomacy in Scandinavia existed before 1918. We can define this tradition as the possibility of Lithuanian diplomacy to orientate in the political conjuncture of the First World War and their humanity, political and propaganda activity to become Lithuania independent, to orient to Scandinavian countries. When we talk about Lithuanian diplomacy in 1915-1917, we talk about Lithuanian diplomacy which is based on moral motivation, because the juridical motivation couldn't be released, although it was possible. The choice to orient to Scandinavia depended on subjective and objective factors of the orientation of the Lithuanians. The first one - the political neutrality of the Scandinavian countries. It helped the Lithuanians to make a solution for economical and political existence. The second one - the blockade of Germany. They forbid sending information and letters abroad and back, closing the Lithuanian newspapers. The best way to break through that blockade was to find a way to send it through neutral countries: Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, USA. The forbidding of the Russian government to send money to the territories occupied by German military force was the third objective factor which forced the Lithuanians to choose the Scandinavian orientation. The best way to send money from Russia to occupied Lithuania was found through Stockholm. The fourth one - the British blockade of Germany. The material help of USA Lithuanians, which had been coming from the USA to Europe, couldn't get to Lithuania because it was a German territory and they wanted to protect their fund. The fifth one - the activity of German insurgence in Scandinavia—Stockholm (F. Reichenau, H. Lucius) and Copenhagen (U. Brokdorf-Rantzau), which aimed to propagate the separate movement of nations of the Russian empire. The sixth one - the policy of Polish diplomats. It was underlined in the first conference of Lithuanians in Stockholm in October 1915, where it was said about the importance of blocking the Polish propaganda of a new-type union. The seventh one - subjective factor - political activity of Lithuanians, related to the reconstitution of Lithuanian self-dependence, which became an international factor. The aims of Lithuanian diplomacy in Scandinavia had formed two concepts of Scandinavia. Humanitarian aims formed Scandinavia - bridge, and political-propaganda aims - Scandinavia - political centre of Lithuanian policy. Scandinavia became the financial and informational bridge to Lithuania when Lithuanian society started to send money and letters throughout Stockholm (Swedish-Lithuanian help committee) in Vilnius and from Vilnius to Lithuanians in foreign countries. In Stockholm, Lithuanians' conferences took place and concentrated propaganda of Lithuania: some articles about the Lithuanians in occupied territory were written in Swedish newspapers, and lectures were arranged about Lithuanian history and parties to proclaim the will of Lithuania to be independent. That formed Stockholm as the political centre of the Lithuanian people. The orientation of Lithuanians to the Scandinavian countries at the end of 1917 became measures of Lithuanian diplomacy, which tried to internationalise the Lithuania question and grant juridical ground to Lithuanian diplomacy, which represented the Lithuanian nation. Scandinavia in 1917 meant to Lithuania the possibility to choose between the West-East and North-South geopolitical axis, and the orientation of Lithuania to Scandinavia could be interpreted in two ways: to Germany as orientation to Germany, and to Great Britain - as orientation to Scandinavia and the states of the Entente.