The General Meeting of Members of the Association of Municipalities of Saint James Way of Lithuania established in 2016 elected the Mayor of Alytus District Municipality Algirdas Vrubliauskas as the new President of the Association and the Mayor of Varėna District Algis Kašėta as the chairman of the Board. They wil head the Association which today unites 25 municipalities of our country for the next four years.

Heads of nineteen municipalities or their authorised representatives attended the General Meeting of Members held remotely. During the meeting, the President of the Association of Municipalities of Saint James Way of Lithuania and the European Federation of Saint James Way, the Mayor of Panevėžys City Rytis Mykolas Račkauskas presented a detailed activity report of the Association for the years 2019 and 2020. New members of the Association of Municipalities of Saint James Way of Lithuania, Information on the events which took place, the partners and joint projects of the Association, Works of putting signs on Saint James Way and the objects to visit in it, the implemented projects and other activities were presented to the members of the Association. The activities of the Association was also reviewed in the report for the reference period under the presidency of the European Federation of Saint James Way from June 2019 to November 2020 when Lithuania transferred the presidency of the European Federation to Poland. The members of the Association unanimously approved the report of the President of the Association R. M. Račkauskas. The members of the Association also unanimously approved the financial statement for the year 2019 presented by the President of the Association.

New management of the Association was elected at the General Meeting of Members for the term of office of four years. The President R. M. Račkauskas notified the General Meeting of Members that he would not nominate himself for the next term of office and nominated the Mayor of Alytus District Algirdas Vrubliauskas as a candidate. After discussions, A. Vrubliauskas was elected as the President of the Association and ex oficio became the Vice-President of the European Federation of Saint James Way.

New members of the Board of the Association of Municipalities of Saint James Way of Lithuania were elected during the meeting:

the Mayor of Birštonas Municipality Nijolė Dirginčienė,

the Mayor of Kaišiadorys District Vytenis Tomkus,

the Mayor of Molėtai District Saulius Jauneika,

the Deputy Mayor of Lazdijai District Audrius Klėjus,

the Mayor of Kalvarija District Vincas Plikaitis,

the Mayor of Trakai District Edita Rudelienė,

the Deputy Mayor of Kretinga District Dangiras Samalius,

the Mayor of Panevėžys City R. M. Račkauskas and

the Mayor of Varėna District Algis Kašėta who was unanimously elected as the chairman of the Board.

The controller of Marijampolė District Municipality Juozas Vaičiulis was elected as the reviser of the Association.

The participants of the meeting were welcomed by the Member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania Dr. Laima Andrikienė. “I warmly thank everyone who wook over the helm of the established Association four and a half years ago and commenced works from the beginning, i.e. the mayors of the municipalities, namely, the founders of the Association, the heads of the Association, the members of the Technical Committee of the European Federation of Saint James Way from Lithuania, all friends of the Way of Saint James Pilgrimage Route in Lithuania. Stay healthy and safe,” said L. Andrikienė. She wished good luck to the new heads of the Association, all municipalities on Saint James Way and their heads in carrying out the works of preservation of the cultural heritage and Christian traditions of Lithuania and the whole of Europe.

The Way of Saint James Pilgrimage Route is the first and the oldest European Cultural Route: in 1987, the Council of Europe published the Santiago de Compostela Declaration recognising the Way of Saint James (Camino ded Santiago) and its branches in the whole Europe as the first Cultural Route. The key message of the declaration is that Europe is not just a political and economic project but, first and foremost, a union based on values and community acting on the basis of the Christian roots of Europe.

There are four branches of the Way of Saint James Pilgrimage Route certified by the European Institute of Cultural Routes in Lithuania: Žemaitija(Samogitia)/Königsberg, Šiauliai, Kaunas and Vilnius.

Dainius Varnas

Member of the Technical Committee of the European Federation of Saint James Way