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The Prime Minister in Action
Visit to Lithuania
January 13, 2018
Photograph of the leaders shaking hands
Photograph of the Prime Minister arriving in Lithuania (1)
Photograph of the Prime Minister arriving in Lithuania (2)
Photograph of the Prime Minister paying a courtesy call on the President of Lithuania (1)
Photograph of the Prime Minister paying a courtesy call on the President of Lithuania (2)
Photograph of the Prime Minister paying a courtesy call on the President of Lithuania (3)
Photograph of the Japan-Lithuania Summit Meeting
Photograph of the expanded summit meeting with Japanese businesses (1)
Photograph of the expanded summit meeting with Japanese businesses (2)
Photograph of the joint press announcement (1)
Photograph of the joint press announcement (2)
Photograph of the joint press announcement (3)
Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting Antakalnis Cemetery (1)
Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting Antakalnis Cemetery (2)
Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting the Sugihara House (1)
Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting the Sugihara House (2)
Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting the Sugihara House (3)
Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting the Sugihara House (4)
Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting the Sugihara House (5)
Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting the Sugihara House (6)
Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting the Sugihara House (7)
Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting the Sugihara House (8)
Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting the Sugihara House (9)
On January 13, 2018 (local time), Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Vilnius in the Republic of Lithuania.
Prime Minister Abe paid a courtesy call on H.E. Dr. Dalia Grybauskaite, President of the Republic of Lithuania. Following that, Prime Minister Abe held a meeting with H.E. Mr. Saulius Skvernelis, Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania, and an expanded summit meeting with Japanese businesses. Afterwards, Prime Minister Abe held a joint press announcement.
In the evening, Prime Minister Abe attended a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Skvernelis.
The following day on January 14 (local time), Prime Minister Abe visited Antakalnis Cemetery, where he offered flowers.
Later, he visited the Sugihara House in Kaunas.
After the visit, the Prime Minister said,
“I have received a very warm welcome from all the local people here, including the children. This certainly shows the feelings that the locals have about the courage of Mr. Chiune Sugihara.
In this land far from Japan, Mr. Sugihara worked as a Japanese diplomat under extremely difficult conditions with strong faith and determination to save the lives of many Jewish people.
During the dinner yesterday, a man seated far away walked across the room to speak with me. He is a Jewish member of the Seimas (the Parliament) of the Republic of Lithuania. He told me that tragically his mother’s visa did not arrive in time, and she was put into a concentration camp. Yet despite that, he said that he came to speak with me because he wanted to express his respect and gratitude for the courage and efforts of Mr. Sugihara.
Mr. Sugihara’s courageous and humanitarian activities are highly regarded all around the world. As a fellow Japanese person, I am enormously proud of his courageous and humanitarian actions.
I would like to express on behalf of Japan gratitude for the great care that everyone here is taking to preserve the memory of Mr. Sugihara, including the Japanese flag that flew over this building when it was the consulate.”
