Prof. Leonidas Donskis - Honorary Consul of Finland
On Friday, February 28, the Ambassador of the Republic of Finland to Lithuania, Harri Mäki-Reinikka, will visit Kaunas - here, together with other embassy representatives, he will meet with the city's Mayor Andrius Kupčinskas, participate in the "Team Finland" seminar, and announce the opening of the Honorary Consulate of Finland in the temporary capital, whose honorary consul will be MEP, philosopher, and VMU professor Leonidas Donskis.
The Finnish-Lithuanian business seminar "Team Finland" will be held on February 28, at 12:30 p.m., at the Park Inn Kaunas hotel (K. Donelaičio g. 27). Its goal is to discuss practical opportunities for economic cooperation between Finland and Lithuania. The event will be attended by heads of companies and employees of both countries, as well as Hannu Niemi, Chairman of the Society of Friends of K. Donelaičios Lithuania, Rubina Haapamäki, Executive Director of the Finnish-Lithuanian Chamber of Commerce, and others.
It is planned to develop friendly relations between Finland and Lithuania not only through business cooperation, but also by establishing an Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Finland in Kaunas, which will be headed by Honorary Consul Prof. Leonidas Donskis. Member of the European Parliament, philosopher, VMU professor L. Donskis will be more actively involved in the intellectual life of the university, Kaunas, and Lithuania starting this spring.
„"It is a great honor for me to become an honorary consul of a country that I have long loved and consider very close to me. A large part of my professional career and intellectual maturation took place in Finland. The University of Helsinki is the closest academic institution to me after VMU. An honorary consulate in Kaunas is necessary for Finland because Kaunas is extremely important in terms of the heritage of pre-war Lithuanian diplomatic and academic life and its Finnish component," the philosopher noted.
According to Prof. L. Donskis, before World War II, such cultural giants of Finnish origin lived and worked in Kaunas as the legendary philosophy professor Vosylius Sezeman, who worked at the then University of Lithuania (now VMU), and his nephew, the talented Finnish-Swedish writer Henris Parland, who worked at the Swedish Consulate in Kaunas.
„"The Honorary Consul of Finland in Kaunas will not only have to help develop business and cultural ties between the two countries, but also preserve the memory of prominent Finns and their role in Lithuanian culture. I believe that VMU will become the closest partner and friend of the Honorary Consulate of Finland in Kaunas," the professor hoped.
