King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium Visit Vilnius University

Their Royal Highnesses King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium will visit Vilnius University (VU) on 25 October (Tuesday). The Royal Couple’s visit to the University is part of a state visit to celebrate a hundred years of bilateral relations and solidarity between the two countries.

 "This is undoubtedly an exceptional visit in the context of VU academic diplomacy. It is extremely gratifying that the monarch will be accompanied by a delegation of ten rectors from Belgian universities. This will be an opportunity for Vilnius University to show both its past (the central palace complex) and its future (Saulėtekis) and to strengthen academic ties," says VU rector prof. Rimvydas Petrauskas.

The royal couple will visit the VU Life Sciences Centre. The guests will be greeted by the Minister of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania Aušrinė Armonaitė, the Vice-Minister of Energy Daiva Garbaliauskaitė, the Rector of Vilnius University Prof. Rimvydas Petrauskas, the Director of the Life Sciences Centre Dr. Daumantas Matulis, and the Director of the Centre for Physical Sciences and Technology Prof. Gintaras Valušis.

At the Life Sciences Centre, the honorable guests will visit the Division of Microtechnologies headed by Dr. Linas Mažutis, and the Department of Protein-Nucleic Acids Interactions headed by Prof. Virginijus Šikšnis. 

Later, the Royal Delegation will go to the University’s Central Building, where, together with the President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda and the First Lady, they will visit the Pranciškus Smuglevičius Hall of the Vilnius University Library, see the library relics of the Sapiega family dedicated to this visit, the collection of manuscripts and cartography by Joachim Lelewel, as well as the collection of documents linked to Belgium and to Joachin Lelewel. 

The visit to the historic VU Library will be followed by an informal encounter of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, and Gitanas Nausėda and Diana Nausėdienė with VU students. Its topics will include biodiversity and climate change, women’s economic empowerment, mental health issues in education, and the role of Universities in forming a sustainable society.

The discussion will be moderated by Prof. Jonas Dagys of the Faculty of Philosophy.