THE “BRAIN drain” suffered by Lithuania as a result of continuing migration to countries like Ireland is of huge concern, the Lithuanian president said during a visit to Dublin yesterday.
"We are a small nation, and we are losing the most active people between 25 and 40 years old after we have trained them and invested in their education. It is a huge loss," President Dalia Grybauskaite told The Irish Times.
Close to 90,000 Lithuanians live in Ireland, making the community the third-largest in the Lithuanian diaspora.
The impact of the global economic crisis on Lithuania has made the flow of migration from the country “more aggressive”, according to Ms Grybauskaite. In contrast with other nations, the number of Lithuanian migrants choosing to return home as a result of the downturn is quite small.
“We are trying to look for the reasons for this – probably one reason is that social security is still more comfortable here than in our country.”
Ms Grybauskaite began her visit to Ireland on Sunday when she met representatives of the Lithuanian community in Ireland.
“Lithuania greatly needs your experience, skills and your ability to work hard. Lithuania is too small to waste its greatest national resource: the people. I hope that you find the best way to use your knowledge for the good of your homeland,” she told the gathering.
Ms Grybauskaite noted that following a “very difficult” economic year in 2009, Lithuania was now beginning to see the prospects of recovery.
“We made a lot of cuts in spending, including serious ones, not symbolic. We did this without any pressure from outside. We knew it was necessary and we just did it.
“Each government needs to be very responsible and be able in difficult and socially tense times to make these decisions. Our government lost huge ratings, and people were, of course, very unhappy, but we did what was necessary.”
Last week, Lithuania hit the headlines when a gay pride parade planned for the capital Vilnius was banned by a court citing security concerns. An appeals court later overturned the ban and the parade went ahead. Police fired tear gas and arrested 12 people after marchers were attacked with stones and fireworks. Homosexuality remains something of a taboo in the majority Catholic country.
Ms Grybauskaite, who was criticised when she intervened in the controversy to remind parade opponents of the constitutional rights of all Lithuanians, said the episode indicated a wider challenge. “In Lithuania, we are still facing lots of problems in terms of human rights, and in terms of accepting all groups and different opinions in our society. The economic downturn has also made people more closed and angry. We need to go a long way in understanding each other, understanding the differences between people, and understanding what human rights really mean.”
Ms Grybauskaite has been instrumental in pushing for investigations into secret CIA prisons on Lithuanian territory after 2001.
“The prosecutor’s office is now investigating how far our institutions breached their own authority . . . and clarifying how much the head of state and government at the time were informed.
“For me it is important to show that Lithuania is capable of acknowledging misdoings, and is ready to avoid such misdoings in the future.”