June 30, 2008 – New York – The American Jewish Committee (AJC), joined by the leaders of other U.S.-based Jewish organizations, today pressed Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas and his government to exert the political will to pass legislation that will finally resolve the matter of Jewish communal property restitution.

Lithuania stands alone as the only country in Central and Eastern Europe to not yet settle the restitution issue, despite negotiations lasting more than six years. The Jewish leaders expressed deep dismay with the continual delays, and voiced concern that the upcoming Lithuania elections in October might lead to further postponement. Every effort must be made now to achieve adoption of the required legislation and to educate the Lithuanian population.

The 90-minute meeting at AJC headquarters in New York also focused on Yitzhak Arad, a Lithuanian Jewish partisan, revered as a Holocaust-era hero, who has been under investigation by the Lithuanian prosecutor-general for alleged war crimes. The Jewish organization representatives reminded the prime minister’s delegation that the charges against Arad are baseless, and urged the Lithuanian government to desist from this two-year old outrageous harassment.

Today’s meeting with Prime Minister Kirkilas came against the backdrop of the European Union decision to designate Vilnius as the 2009 Cultural Capital of the World for 2009. Writing on the opinion pages of the Forward newspaper last week, Rabbi Andrew Baker, AJC's director for international Jewish affairs, declared that such an honor is undeserving and mistaken because of Lithuania’s record of ignoring its Jewish heritage, failure to resolve the restitution issue, preserve Jewish cemeteries, and effectively combat anti-Semitism. Rabbi Baker has been the point person in negotiations with the Lithuanian government over Jewish communal concerns, and led the conversation with the prime minister at AJC today.

Other participants included David A. Harris, AJC executive director; Michael Schneider, secretary-general of the World Jewish Congress; Dan Mariaschin, executive vice president of B’nai B’rith; Mark Levin, executive director of the NCSJ; and  Gideon Taylor, executive vice president of the Conference on Material Claims Against Germany.