Chief of State: Rolandas Paksas
Prime Minister: Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Antanas Valionis

Area: 65,300 km²
Population: 3,475,586 inhabitants
Capital: Vilnius
Language: Lithuanian, Polish, Russian
Currency: litas
Unemployment: 16.9%

GDP: 14.77 billion euro
Per Capita GDP: 4,260 euro
Growth Rate: 5.9%
Inflation: 0.3%
Debt/GDP: 23.1% (2001)
Deficit/GDP: -1.8%
Eurostat 2002

Country

Lithuania is the largest of the three Baltic Republics, having declared independence from the USSR on 11 January 1990. According to the terms of the Constitution (approved by referendum in 1992), Lithuania is a Parliamentary Republic. The president is elected every five years (universal suffrage). The unicameral Parliament (Seimas) is elected every 4 years. The electoral system is mixed. Half of the 141 members are elected by single-member constituencies and the other half by proportional system. The present Head of State, 46-year-old Rolandas Paksas, was elected in the last presidential election in February 2003. Since July 2001, Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas has headed a centre-left coalition supported by the Social Democratic Party (the winners of the election) and the New Union Party (social liberals).

Foreign Policy

The two priorities of Lithuania are European Union Accession and NATO membership. EU membership negotiations were concluded in December 2002 in Copenhagen, and Lithuania is to become a member of the EU on 1 May 2004. The NATO Summit in Prague of November 2002 invited Latvia and six other countries to join the alliance. Lithuania is to officially become a member of NATO in May 2004. Other priorities for the government are developing cooperation with other Baltic countries and - on a bilateral basis - entering into a strategic partnership with Poland. It also wishes to improve relations with the Russian Federation.

Economy

Despite the drawbacks of its binding commercial ties with Russia and the economic crisis of 1998, Lithuania's GDP growth rate in 2002 increased more rapidly (5.9%) than in the other Baltic countries. However, the unemployment rate remains high (13% in 2002). The services sector accounts for 61% of the GDP; 31% of the national income is produced by industrial production of television equipment, optical products, refrigerators and furniture, as well as the shipbuilding, oil refining and food industries; farming accounts for 7%. According to European Commission forecasts, Lithuania's GDP should rise by 4.5% in 2003.

Links

Government
Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Source: Italian EU Presidency 2003