On 10–11 June, we held a regional meeting in the Lithuanian city of Panevėžys, bringing together staff from the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Offices across the Baltic States to discuss upcoming activities and cooperation opportunities.
The regional meetings take place annually and are hosted on a rotating basis by one of the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Offices in the Baltic countries. This year’s event was organised by the office in Lithuania and it took place in Panevėžys. Besides the working session, the Baltic colleagues visited the Jewish history museum Lost Shtetl in Šeduva and the Stasys Museum, where they explored the work of Lithuanian contemporary artist Stasys Eidrigevičius.
Group work sessions focused on discussions about future cooperation between the Baltic offices and the agenda was complemented by training on the use of artificial intelligence tools. During the session, expert Martynas Kairys highlighted that artificial intelligence has existed since the 1990s and platforms such as ChatGPT have achieved a record number of users in a very short time compared to other modern social media platforms.
The programme concluded with a lecture by Nerijus Mačiulis, Chief Economist at Swedbank in Lithuania, on the economic situation in the Baltic States, providing both country-specific insights and a broader regional comparison.
The gathering laid the groundwork for joint projects and closer collaboration among the Baltic offices and with the Nordic countries.
