On 28 June 2024 the Lithuanian Ambassadors’ Club (LAC) held an award ceremony for the best Master’s Theses in International Relations and Political Science. The LAC committee evaluated 5 M.A. Theses from various Lithuanian universities.
This year it was decided to award two LAC prizes of 500 EUR to the following Master’s students – Ms. Laila Eidukevičiūtė, a student at Vytautas Magnus University, for her thesis titled “Germany’s policy towards Russia in the context of the 2022 Ukraine invasion” (supervised by Dr. Mindaugas Norkevičius) and to Ms. Aušra Jurgauskaitė, a student at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University, for her thesis titled “NATO Summit in Vilnius: did it give Lithuanian Voice more Importance?“ (supervised by Dr. Deividas Šlekys).
Ms. L. Eidukevičiūtė examines the impact of international and domestic factors on Germany’s foreign policy in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, while Ms. A. Jurgauskaitė delves into Lithuania’s diplomatic practices to achieve the objectives of the NATO Summit in Vilnius on 11-12 July 2023 and analyses whether Lithuania’s role as a host country of the 2023 Summit gave Lithuania diplomatic advantages.
LAC President Ambassador Algimantas Rimkūnas also expressed his gratitude to Ms. Laima Paulauskytė, a student of Kaunas University of Technology, for her thesis: “Macro-level Factors Influencing Conspiracy Theory Acceptance in the Baltic and Central European States during 2020-2022”, Ms. Vytenė Dagytė, a student of Klaipėda University, for her thesis: “Problems of Gender Equality in the Context of National and International Security”, and Ms. Augusta Grakavinaitė, a student of Vilnius University, for her thesis: “Lithuania’s search for the Lithuanian position in the committee of Charles J. Kersten in the 1953-1954 period”.
All participants were presented with letters of appreciation and a book titled “Smiles and Jokes of Diplomats”, written by Ambassador, Professor, Dr. Alfonsas Eidintas, personally signed by the author.
The event, which has become an annual tradition, reaffirmed the goal of fostering the development of future international relations experts in Lithuania. The participants demonstrated the high standards of education provided by Lithuanian universities and their potential to contribute to the country’s diplomatic efforts.