TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Lithuania’s speaker of parliament, Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen, will address the Legislative Yuan during a visit to Taiwan next week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Thursday (Oct. 19).

Unofficial relations between the two countries warmed over the past years as the Baltic nation allowed Taiwan to use its name for a representative office in Vilnius. A delegation of Lithuania’s legislature members, the Seimas, visited Taiwan in January, while the country’s vice minister of education, science, and sport arrived in Taipei in February.

Cmilyte-Nielsen will be accompanied on her Oct. 22-25 trip by Finance Vice Minister Vaida Markeviciene and by legislative and finance officials, MOFA said in a statement. Apart from banquets and meetings with top government leaders including President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Cmilyte-Nielsen will also deliver a speech at the Legislative Yuan.

Members of the delegation are scheduled to attend a financial technology forum and visit the Ultrafast Laser Technology Research and Innovation Center, a Taiwan-Lithuanian joint project based in Tainan City.

MOFA described Cmilyte-Nielsen, a former European women’s chess champion, as a steadfast friend of Taiwan, having on several occasions spoken out in favor of the country’s democracy