Relations between Switzerland and Lithuania are excellent. One reason for this is the assistance Switzerland provided to Lithuania in the years immediately following its independence in 1991. Lithuania is also a beneficiary of the second Swiss contribution.
Bilateral relations Switzerland–Lithuania
Key aspects of diplomatic relations
Switzerland and Lithuania maintain regular bilateral contacts at the highest level. One of the priorities of the bilateral relations has been the close cooperation in the framework of the Swiss contribution programme. Security is another focus of the cooperation between the two countries.
Economic cooperation
Economic relations between the two countries are flourishing. Lithuania is the Baltic state with which Switzerland has the largest volume of trade in goods with approx. CHF 470 million in 2023. Switzerland exported goods worth CHF 194 million to Lithuania and imported goods worth CHF 278 million, resulting in a negative trade balance for Switzerland.
Cooperation in education, research and innovation
In the area of research and innovation, cooperation mainly takes place within the context of European framework programmes.
Researchers from Lithuania can apply to the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) for Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships.
Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships for Foreign Scholars and Artists, SERI
Switzerland’s contribution to selected EU member states
Lithuania is one of the countries to have received financial support under the first and second Swiss contributions in order to reduce economic and social disparities in the EU and within the respective country. As part of the second Swiss contribution, Lithuania will receive CHF 45.2 million towards programmes in the fields of health, civic participation and vocational education. On 22 May 2023, the implementation agreement for the Swiss-Lithuanian Cooperation Programme was signed by both countries.
Within the framework of the first contribution from 2007-2017, eight projects worth a total of about CHF 71 million in the area of health have been implemented. Already in the 1990s, Switzerland provided assistance worth some CHF 26 million to Lithuania through its programme of cooperation with the countries of Eastern Europe in the areas of healthcare, surveying and mapping, environmental protection and banking.
Swiss nationals in Lithuania
At the end of 2023, there were 38 Swiss citizens living in Lithuania.
History of bilateral relations
The first Republic of Lithuania was recognised by Switzerland in 1921. A consulate was opened in Kaunas, the country’s capital at the time. The Lithuanian diplomatic mission which had been set up in Bern in 1918 was attached to the embassy in Berlin.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries were interrupted in 1940 because of the Soviet annexation. Switzerland never recognised the annexation of Lithuania by the USSR. Diplomatic relations were immediately re-established after the failed Moscow putsch of August 1991.
The Swiss Embassy in Riga (Latvia) serves as the diplomatic representation of Switzerland in Lithuania, as well as Latvia and Estonia. Switzerland has an honorary consul in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. In 2024, Lithuania re-opened its Embassy in Bern.
Lithuania, Historical Dictionary of Switzerland (de, fr, it)
