In Rome, President Grybauskaitė will meet with the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella. In Milan's Sforza Castle, she will open an exhibition dedicated to the history of diplomatic and cultural relations between Lithuania and Italy. She will launch the Lithuanian National Day at Expo 2015.
The Presidents of Lithuania and Italy will discuss the newly emerging challenges faced by Europe: hybrid threats, the problem of migration and asylum seekers, the Greek crisis and its consequences, economic stability and energy security.
Both presidents place a special focus on fighting corruption and organized crime. Therefore, they will share their anti-corruption experience and exchange views about counter corruption measures. Lithuania ranks 39th and Italy ranks 69th on the Corruption Perceptions Index.
The meeting's agenda will also include bilateral cooperation. Italy is among Lithuania's ten biggest trade partners, with hard and cottage cheese on top of the Lithuanian list of exports. Import indicators are also on the rise. Trade turnover between the two countries amounted to nearly 1.8 billion euros last year.
Lithuania and Italy are connected by special historical ties: Bona Sforza, Princess of Milan, was the wife of Sigismund the Old and the mother of Sigismund Augustus. During her visit to Milan, the President will open an exhibition devoted to Bona Sforza at Sforza Castle, which will display unique museum objects from the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania.
Lithuania is the only country to be on view at both the Expo and the Milan museum.
The President will launch the Lithuanian National Day at Expo 2015 – a global showcase with 147 countries taking part. On this day, Lithuania will invite visitors to taste its traditional cuisine: kastinis (Samogitian national dish), skilandis (Lithuanian sausage), šakotis (tree cake), Lithuanian honey, and Lithuanian mead. It will also introduce Lithuanian exported foods as well as Lithuanian inventions in food industry and agriculture.
The Expo – open from May to October – welcomes 150 thousand visitors each day. It expects to attract over 20 million people from all over the world. According to the President, it is a priceless venue for the promotion of Lithuania.
The world expositions are held every five years on different themes. "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life" is the core theme of Expo 2015 which focuses on food, nutrition and the best technologies.
For Lithuania, it is the 12th official world fair. The first time it participated, unofficially, was in Paris 1900. The Lithuanian ethnographic exposition was organized by émigré Lithuanians and it exhibited the Lithuanian publications banned by tsarist Russia and folk costumes.
