Israel’s Foreign Ministry has announced that it is due to open an embassy in Lithuania.

The new embassy is expected to be operational in January 2015, and is an expression of the significant strengthening of the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Avigdor Lieberman, made a recent visit to Lithuania and met with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, Prime Minister Algridas Butkevicius and Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius.

At his meeting with Foreign Minister Linkevicius, Lieberman announced the opening of an Israeli embassy in Vilnius. Foreign Minister Lieberman stated that relations between Israel and Lithuania have strengthened in recent years, a fact that has been expressed in many areas. These include the inauguration of a Tel Aviv-Vilnius airline route, a substantial increase in tourism, the development and strengthening of economic and business ties between the two countries in the fields of high-tech, technology and medicine and the relationship between the two nations. Over 150 representatives from 60 Israeli companies recently participating in The Life Sciences Baltics conference.