Rasa Jankauskaitė, nominated by the government as Lithuania’s ambassador to South Africa, said her main task was to “achieve full visa-free access for Lithuanian citizens”.
Nominated by the cabinet on Wednesday, Jankauskaitė will take up her new duties on September 1 if she gets approval from President Gitanas Nausėda.
“Jankauskaitė is ready [...] to represent Lithuania in the Republic of South Africa, where there are both important economic interests and a large community of Litvak emigrants from Lithuania, and from which we cover more countries in the southern part of the African continent," Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomėnas told the meeting.
Jankauskaitė also noted that the importance of South Africa was growing globally.
The diplomat said the country "historically has had quite close ties with Russia" and that the war in Ukraine would make it "very difficult to call South Africa a like-minded country".
This is why, according to Jankauskaitė, it is important to "deepen political dialogue with this country as much as possible" to influence South Africa's position on the war in Ukraine and to refute disinformation being spread by Russia.
South Africa has recently been at loggerheads over the detention of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been invited to next month's BRICS summit in Johannesburg.
The Russian president has been invited to the event despite an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which Pretoria, as a member of the ICC, would have to execute should he arrive.
South Africa calls for an exception to the ICC rules, arguing that legalising arrest could threaten national security, peace and order.
According to Jankauskaitė, Lithuania also has economic interests in South Africa, as it would have something to offer that country in the fields of high-tech, biotechnology, life sciences, digitalisation, and green energy.
She noted that Lithuania's work in Africa had not been significant thus far and, compared to other countries, Vilnius was late in establishing closer ties with African countries.]
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