"Baltic Night" for the first time at BALTDEFCOL

On Saturday, 12th of November, Baltic Defence College organized an event called “Baltic Night”. Among the participants were not only the members of BALTDEFCOL staff and students, but also the Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania H.E. Mr. Antanas Vinkus, Defence Attachés from Lithuania, Norway and USA to Estonia and other honourable guests.

The "Baltic Night" event was opened by the Commandant Brigadier General Algis Vaiceliunas who in his welcoming speech stressed that: the idea of organizing national nights in multinational Military Colleges is not new and reflects perfectly the necessity of multidimensional education in a contemporary world. Only by understanding each other, each others' traditions, way of life we can understand the world, he stated.

The Commandant also emphasized the "Baltic Night" event for the importance of familiarizing the guests of the Baltic States: international staff members and international students – with the history and traditions of the countries which for a long time have been excluded from the world map – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Afterwards students from Estonia (Raul Tõnnov), Latvia (Jurijs Verba) and Lithuania (Darius Jauniškis) presented their countries’ history, culture and national traditions.

Following the presentations of the three Baltic States everybody was kindly invited to the Main Hall where national folklore, songs and dances where introduced. Estonia was represented by a group of singers wearing their national costumes and singing their traditional songs. Latvia charmed the audience which their national dances and Lithuania showed the variety of musical instruments and songs common to their culture.

All the participants of the "Baltic Night" event also had a wonderful opportunity to taste the national drinks and food of the three countries as well as spend a good time on the dance floor.

Text by Laura Pakaste Photos by Rain Sirendi