LITHUANIA, May 3 - Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė is sending her greetings to the people of the country celebrating the 18th anniversary of Lithuania’s membership of the European Union.

‘On our path towards the EU membership, we knew that our goal would strengthen the state and provide new opportunities for Lithuania and its people. Let us remember this as we are working now to further strengthen our European Lithuania’, said Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė.

According to the Prime Minister, we have grown so much over these years that we are now able to help those who still are (as we once were) seeking membership of the community of European nations. Ukraine is forced to pay a huge and tragic price for its free choice today, and we wholeheartedly support its decision to join the EU, serving as its voice in the EU capitals.

Following Lithuania’s accession to the EU in 2004, there have been obvious changes across various areas in the development of the state and daily lives of the people: from more than 6-fold increase in foreign direct investment to a 3.6-fold increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, as Statistics Lithuania reports. Moreover, the last 18 years have seen:

• The 4-fold average net wage increase.
• Increased GDP, expressed in purchasing power standards, from 50% to 88% of EU level. In this respect, Lithuania is in the lead of Estonia, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Portugal and Latvia.
• 3.6-fold increase in exports of goods of Lithuanian origin, and 3.3-fold increase in exports of services.
• Crime has declined: 20 times less car robberies in 2021, and 11 times less burglaries from private residential premises.
• 22 thousand new car purchases registered at the end of the year 2020: - double-fold increase compared to 2004.
• Following the intensive emigration in 2004, when emigrations outnumbered immigrations by 8 times, now, we have almost stricken a balance between those leaving the country and those coming to Lithuania, the latter being largely dominated by the returning Lithuanians.
• Culture and leisure activities are on the rise. Before the pandemic, Lithuanians visited the theatre 1.6 times more often, and the cinema 2.6 times more often, compared to the previous years.

Apart from Lithuania, the 18th anniversary of EU membership is celebrated today by nine other countries that became full members of the Community on the same day: Poland, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Slovakia, and Slovenia.