The European Parliament approved Vilnius to be the cultural capital of Europe in 2009. The EP session accepted the report arranged by its culture and education committee, which proposed to include new member states in the Cultural Capitals of Europe program. The program promotes cultural cooperation among EU nations, mutual recognition and understanding. Under the new program, which will begin in 2007, two cities 's an older EU city and a newcomer 's will become cultural capitals each year. The plan is that Vilnius and Austria's Linz will be the pair in 2009. Vilnius will be the first capital of an EU newcomer to participate in this program. Funds are to be allocated by the program, though the amount is not yet clear.
In a speech made during a visit to Brussels, U.S. President George W. Bush commended Valdas Adamkus for the spread of freedom in Europe. Bush mentioned Adamkus, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and European Union foreign policy representative Javier Solana in his speech. America supports a strong Europe, the president said, as it needs a partner in the difficult task of spreading freedom around the world. Kwasniewski, Adamkus and Solana have helped resolve Ukraine's election crisis and helped shift the country back onto the road of freedom, Bush added.
Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis is urging Moscow to return Lithuanian residents' money, kept in the former Vneshekonombank office, as well as cultural heirlooms taken to Russia. A meeting between chairmen of the Lithuanian-Russian intergovernmental commission 's Valionis and Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin 's was held in the town of Trakai on Feb. 19. Valionis urged Russian representatives to return to humanitarian and social issues so far delayed, including a Lithuanian-Russian agreement in the field of pension allowance and an intergovernmental agreement on the graves of military and civil victims.
Opposition leader Conservative Andrius Kubilius and fellow party member Julius Dautartas, will hold consultations in Kiev with Ukraine's pro-Western political forces on the country's integration into the EU and NATO. "We are going to congress at the invitation of Ukraine's largest pro-Western movement, the main supporters of President Viktor Yushchenko. We are willing to develop ties with the movement, and help arrange an action plan on how Ukraine could receive clear plans from Brussels and Washington on achieving EU and NATO membership as soon as possible," Kubilius said.
The number of foreign students studying in Lithuania is increasing, according to observations drawn from the Erasmus exchange program. During the academic year 2003-2004, the number of Erasmus students studying in the Baltic state increased by 56 percent - the most rapid growth of all EU member states and former aspirants, representatives from the European Commission reported. A total of 234 Erasmus students studied in Lithuania last year, most of them from Germany, France, Romania, and Denmark.
