Lithuania joined global campaign "Turn the world UN blue"
On 24 October Lithuania joined the global campaign "Turn the world UN Blue" to mark the United Nations Day and the 70th anniversary of the organisation. The Gediminas’ Castle Tower, one of the best known symbols of Lithuania's capital city Vilnius, was lit up blue - the official colour of the United Nations.
Many iconic landmarks across the globe also joined the campaign, including the United Nations Headquarters and the Empire State Building in New York City, Tokyo Sky Tree, the City Hall of Brussels, the Town Hall of Athens and the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Jet d’Eau fountain in Geneva, the Hague City Hall and the Peace Palace, the Angel of Independence Monument and the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City.
“The anniversary of the United Nations is a good opportunity to assess significant achievements of the UN in the maintenance of international peace and security, also to try to find ways to reform the UN and to adapt the organisation to global challenges today, so that it would be able to effectively prevent conflict and aggression, attempts to redraw state borders, the spread of terrorism, and human rights violations,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius.
According to the Minister, the UN membership and the current membership of the UN Security Council provided our country with the opportunity to participate directly in world politics and to promote the principles of equality and practices of democracy and respect for human rights in international relations. “Lithuania’s election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council is of particular significance. It is also a testament of our country’s international recognition and the UN community’s confidence in Lithuania,” said Minister Linkevičius.
Lithuania’s key focus areas in the UN Security Council are the external aggression against Ukraine, the consolidation of the rule of law and democratic values in international relations and conflict resolution practices, the strengthening of the fight against international terrorism, the protection of civilians in armed conflict, the protection of the rights of women and children, the safety of journalists, the promotion of openness and transparency in the Council's work.
Lithuania was elected as a non-permanent members of the Security Council for the 2014-2015 term.
