LSU Rector Diana Rėklaitienė joined the Lithuanian delegation led by the President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda for the visit to Azerbaijan and Armenia. The delegation to these Caucasian countries comprised of Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Sports Gintautas Jakštas, President’s Adviser Paulius Baltokas, Rectors of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences and Vytautas Magnus University, colleagues from other higher education institutions and business representatives.
The visit to Azerbaijan started from a meeting with the representatives of the Ministries of Education, and Youth and Sport. Later the Lithuanian delegation attended a solemn ceremony dedicated to the opening of a new auditorium named after Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius at the State University of Economics of Azerbaijan. An interesting fact is that the famous classic of the Lithuanian literature not only gave lectures in this country and studied about the cultures of Eastern countries, but also worked in the diplomatic mission.
During the visit, the Rector also had an opportunity to visit the Azerbaijan State Academy of Physical Education and Sport, where she met Rector Fuad Hakijev and discussed how to build a closer cooperation between the institutions. The meeting ended with signing the Memorandum of Understanding and giving a presentation about the LSU advancements in studies and research to the representatives of this higher education institution.
In addition, together with the Lithuanian delegation, the Rector participated in the Lithuania-Azerbaijan Business Forum held at the Heydar Aliyev Center, where the President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda and the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev addressed the Forum participants with their speeches. The Forum was followed by a meeting with the Head of the Foundation’s International Relations Department.
From Azerbaijan, the visit to the Caucasian countries continued in Armenia. There the Lithuanian delegation met with Artur Martirosyan, the country’s Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, and afterwards they visited Yerevan State University. Later, the LSU Rector visited the Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture and Sport, where she presented the University and discussed possibilities for bilateral cooperation.
The LSU rector summed up her visit with these words: “I would like to note that the meetings with the sports higher education institutions took place in an extremely warm atmosphere. I have no doubt that our cooperation will become more intense. We will seek to prepare joint study and research projects and programmes, start implementing student exchanges, and the Lithuanian Sports University will be an important partner for these Caucasian higher education institutions”.
