Lithuania will soon become a member of the United Nations (UN) International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – the Seimas on Thursday ratified the 1976 Rome Agreement on the establishment of the Fund. 

As Giedrius Surplys, a "peasant", said at the Seimas meeting, Lithuania is joining the Fund to enable it to provide even more support to Ukraine when it finally joins the Fund. 

„It's about food, it's about humanitarian aid. So that we can play a more active role in explaining to African and Asian countries that the European Union is not only an investor, a donor, but also a values-based organisation that provides support and promotes democratic values by preventing things like violations of international law, which are currently being committed by Russia," the parliamentarian said.

„For some reason, in some countries in Africa or Asia, despite the fact that the European Union is the biggest donor, it is still believed that it is to blame for the wars, for the increase in grain prices. Joining this international fund would allow us to play a more active role in changing that narrative," Surplys added.

On Thursday, 84 MPs voted in favour of ratifying the agreement, with no abstentions or votes against. 

IFAD's Governing Council endorsed the membership of Lithuania and Serbia earlier this year and Ukraine in 2023.   

The Fund has 177 members. Of the EU countries, apart from Lithuania, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Malta, Bulgaria and Romania are not yet members. 

Lithuania's membership of IFAD would complement its current membership of the other UN food organisations based in Rome, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP). There is increasing coordination between the three organisations.