Restoration of Jewish properties
Petras Vaitiekunas, Lithuanian Foreign Minister, stated that the government needs to take care of the Jewish property restitution issue. The discussion took place during his meeting with Rabbi Andrew Baker - the director of the international affairs department of the American Jewish Committee. It seems that Lithuanian Government wants to reach out to the Jewish community after struggling with some tensions between the two, considering an international commotion over alleged construction on a Jewish cemetery outside Vilnius.
Before WWII, huge stretches of land were in hands of Lithuanian Jews, but it was all taken away during the war. The government is working on a new bill that would give the property back to the Jewish community. Currently, the community is trying to evict 108 items of 50 million euros worth. So far,2 buildings in Vilnus, 4 in Kaunas and 1 in Klaipeda have been returned.