TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis is set to receive Taiwan’s Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon during his first visit to the nation.

Landsbergis arrived on Sunday for a five-day visit at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) will present the award to Landsbergis at the Presidential Office, MOFA said. During his visit, Landsbergis will also meet Taiwan's representative to the US, Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), and attend banquets hosted by National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍).

He is scheduled to deliver a speech at National Taiwan University on Lithuania-Taiwan relations, the lessons of Russia's war in Ukraine, and engage with students.

MOFA credited Landsbergis with significantly advancing Taiwan-Lithuania relations during his tenure as foreign minister. His efforts included facilitating the donation of COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan, supporting the establishment of the Taiwan Representative Office in Lithuania in 2021, and urging greater global support for Taiwan during China's military exercises in the Taiwan Strait in 2022.

Landsbergis’s visit coincides with Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas’s efforts to restore full diplomatic relations with China. Before his election, Paluckas criticized the naming of Taiwan’s representative office in Lithuania, calling it a “grave diplomatic mistake.”