President invites Cyprus to open embassy in Lithuania

VILNIUS – Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has invited Cyprus to open its Baltic embassy in Vilnius.

"I am informed about Cyprus' plans to establish an embassy in the Baltic region. I take this opportunity to invite you to consider opening your embassy in Vilnius to further strengthen our political and economic relations," he told reporters after meeting with his Cypriot counterpart, Nikos Christodoulides, in Vilnius on Friday.  

Christodoulides is the first president of the Mediterranean island nation to visit Lithuania.

Nauseda's office said in a press release that the two leaders discussed bilateral relations, the security situation in Europe, Russia's war against Ukraine, continued support for Ukraine, and the priorities of Cyprus' presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2026.

"We have a strong foundation for our growing bilateral ties, and today we are also paving the way to further strengthen this relationship. I'm very encouraged by the growing Lithuanian investment in Cyprus, as well as the steadily increasing number of Lithuanian tourists to Cyprus – and, of course, vice versa," Christodoulides told reporters after the meeting. 

"We are keen to do much more to facilitate these people-to-people contacts and also help Lithuanian businesses and services expand into the Middle East region," he added. 

Nauseda noted that in recent years, Lithuania's service exports to Cyprus have grown 6.5 times, while imports have doubled.

"The growth of trade in services is truly impressive. With Lithuania positioning itself as a center of excellence in cybersecurity, e-business, e-government and fintech, I expect this trend to be mutually beneficial," he said. 

Nauseda also said Cyprus' EU presidency will be particularly important in preparing for the bloc's 2028–2034 multiannual financial framework, which is expected to reflect the funding needs of both traditional and new priorities.

"Your leadership will be essential for advancing the European Union enlargement process, especially regarding Ukraine and Moldova," he said. "We hope that significant progress will be made in negotiations in all areas in 2026." 

Christodoulides last visited Lithuania in 2021 as foreign minister.

Lithuania and Cyprus established diplomatic relations in December 1992.