Витис Юрконис награжден офицерским крестом ордена «За заслуги перед Литвой». Фото: lrp.lt
On February 16, on the occasion of the Day of the Restoration of the State, President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda presented state awards for merit and for promoting the country abroad. Among those honoured was Lithuanian political analyst well known in Belarus, Vytis Jurkonis.
Jurkonis was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order “For Merits to Lithuania” for his contribution to promoting Lithuania’s name as a centre of freedom and democracy abroad and for supporting the implementation of Lithuania’s foreign policy initiatives, the Lithuanian president’s press service reported.
Vytis Jurkonis is a Lithuanian political analyst, a leading expert on Belarus, a lecturer at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University, and head of the Lithuanian office of Freedom House. He has personally helped thousands of Belarusians who sought refuge in Lithuania from repression by the Lukashenka regime.