Bilateral Cooperation

Close historic and cultural ties between Lithuania and Poland determined abundant cultural heritage significant to both countries, so the preservation of this heritage requires bilateral cooperation of both countries.
On 16 December 1999, in Warsaw, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania and the Government of the Republic of Poland signed the Agreement on cooperation between authorised representatives of the Governments in the area of protection of cultural heritage (approved by Resolution No 778 of 3 July 2000 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (official gazette Valstybės Žinios No 55-1608, 2000)), hereinafter referred to as the Bilateral Agreement.
On the basis of this Bilateral Agreement, the countries regularly cooperate in the area of cultural heritage protection, exchange relevant information on changes of national legal acts in the system of cultural heritage protection as well as other relevant information, arrange visits of restoration, archives and museum experts as well as other cultural heritage specialists in Lithuania and Poland and exchange the best practice, organise internships and training of experts, hold conferences, exhibitions, etc. Under the Bilateral Agreement, each country takes turns in holding meetings of expert groups of Lithuania and Poland on the heritage protection issues important to both countries.
The Department of Cultural Heritage regularly cooperates with the National Institute of Cultural Heritage of Poland as well as other institutions of cultural heritage and science, they exchange information relevant to both countries and organise working visits on the issues of protection of cultural heritage. On 10 December 2015, the Agreement on cooperation in the field of protection of cultural heritage was signed between the Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture and the Polish National Heritage Institute was signed in Warsaw, Poland.

On 28 November 2018, the Agreement on cooperation for the protection of the cultural heritage was signed between the Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania and the National Institute of Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad Polonika. The signatories to the Agreement undertake to cooperate on joint projects relating to the activities of the National Institute of Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad Polonika and of the Department of Cultural Heritage, by attaching special importance to research, accounting and restoration works which are aimed, subject to the relevant legislation in force in both countries, at preserving valuable objects of cultural heritage in the territories of Lithuania and Poland that are associated with the common history and culture of both countries. The cooperation Agreement provides exchange of information on the protection of the most valuable objects of cultural heritage located within their state territories that are associated with the common history and culture of both countries.