(TibetanReview.net, Nov14’24) –A delegation of two members of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile (TPiE) held a series of meetings with lawmakers and other Tibet supporters in the Baltic states of Lithuania and Latvia over Nov 11 and 13, including with the Speaker of Latvia’s Saeima, to garner support for a host of grave issues, said the TPiE in a Tibet.net report Nov 12-14.
The delegates, Geshe Lharampa Gowo Lobsang Pende and Mr Wangdue Dorjee, have raised awareness about the Chinese government’s ongoing repression of Tibetan religious freedom and the Sinicization of Tibetan Buddhism and culture, and sought support for bringing an end to these repressions.
Following their initial arrival in Vilnius on Nov 10, the delegates held a breakfast meeting with Mr Dainius Zalimas, Member of the European Parliament and former President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, on the following day. Zalimas has expressed unwavering commitment to advocating for Tibet, despite the challenging political climate.
Zalimas has also committed to do his best to help establish the Tibet Intergroup in the European Parliament by working with like-minded MEPs. He has also promised assistance to the local Tibet Support Group in organising Tibet awareness events locally.
On the following day, the delegation has met with members of the Lithuanian Parliamentary Group for Relations with Tibet. The visit coincided with the period of political transition in the country following the recent general elections with a new parliament and a potential change in government. The outgoing chair of the group, Mr Andrius Navickas, has presided over the last meeting of the group in the outgoing parliament, which was held with the presence of the Tibetan visitors.
The MPs who attended it have also included Arunas Valinskas and Matas Maldeikis, both of whom were re-elected, and outgoing members Kestutis Navickas (former Minister for Agriculture) and Monica Navickiene.
Navickas has expressed hope that the group would be re-established in the new parliament with Arunas Valinskas at the helm while assuring full cooperation from the outgoing members. Valinskas has assured his continued support for Tibet for the next four years of the new parliament’s term.
At the meeting, Professor Vytis Vidunas, Director of the House of Tibet, has recalled His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s first visit to Lithuania with much gratitude and appreciation.
Professor Vidunas and Robertas Mazeika from the local Tibet Support Group have accompanied the TPiE members to the Tibet Square – a symbol of Lithuanian solidarity with the Tibetan people. The square was opened in 2010 with a blessing by His Holiness the Dalai Lama during his visit there. His Holiness last visited the square in 2018 and planted a tree to symbolise the friendship between the peoples of Lithuania and Tibet.
Arriving in Latvia’s capital Riga on Nov 13, the TPiE delegation has met with the Speaker of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia, Daiga Mieriņa, as well as Juris Viļums, Chair of the Group for the Support of Tibet in the Saeima, and Aleksandrs Kirsteins, another MP.