Official opening of first ever Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Lithuania in Heerlen

On 5 April the official opening of the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Lithuania in Heerlen, the Netherlands took place. Mr Aloys Bruggeman RE RA has been installed as a honorary Consul for the region of Limburg. He will officially represent general, economic and cultural interests of Lithuania and its citizens . Mr Bruggeman is the first in the history of the region honorary consul of the Republic of Lithuania with its official office situated in Limburg.

The opening begon at the Municipality of Heerlen where the guests listened to the speeches of Mr Roel Wever, mayor of Heerlen, H.E. Vidmantas Purlys, Ambassador of the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Mr Aloys Bruggeman honorary consul of Lithuania.

H.E. Vidmantas Purlys in his speech said that he was delighted to be in Heerlen as it was a historic moment to open the first ever Honorary Consulate here and that the active member of the community was the first honorary consul in Limburg. Mr Ambassador stressed that he has known Mr Bruggeman and his wife Beata for many years and he is sure he will be a fantastic representative of his country.

Then the invited guests attended the official opening of the office of the Consulate. Mr Roel Wever, the mayor of Heerlen announced the opening of the Consulate by the official cutting of the ribbon.

The Consulate was blessed by pastor-dean father Hans Bouman together with Bas Bakker of the Almoners at Defense also on behalf of the Ordinariate for the Dutch Armed Forces.

After the blessing the reception followed during which the guests had a chance to try various Lithuanian delicacies.

The event was attended by Ms Ambassador Dita Purlienė, Mr. Julijus Glebovas, Commercial Attache of the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Lieutenant Colonel Ron Plender the battalion/regimental commander of 42 armored infantry battalion Limburgse Jagers, Adjutant Gerard Theunissen the battalion adjutant of 42 armored infantry battalion Limburgse Jagers, honorary consuls from Corps Consulaire à Maestricht, politicians, diplomats, businessmen, military, boards of education organizations, international and cultural organizations. etc.

About Aloys Bruggeman

Aloys Bruggeman knows the region of Central and Eastern Europe very well and he has an extensive national and international network.

He is an entrepreneur, an executive member of the management board of the biggest organization in the Netherlands for Real Estate Investors. Additionally he is an academic lecturer at a post-master accountancy department at Tilburg University.

He has been advising major players in the Netherlands and abroad for almost 25 years, including World 5: IBM, KPMG, Price Waterhouse Coopers working on various continents. In the United States of America he has controlled with his team on Manhattan in New York the global investments of more than 400 billion euro for the biggest Retirement Fund in the world.

Aloys Bruggeman is thoroughly educated with three post-master diplomas in the fields of finances and accountancy, ICT and strategic digital marketing from the Vrije University in Amsterdam, Tilburg University and Maastricht School of Management.

Aloys Bruggeman is married to Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska, MA an award-winning international journalist, author and sworn translator. They have three children: Alexia, Victoria and Maximiliaan.

Lithuania in short

Lithuania is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. Its capital is Vilnus. Vilnus with 46% of the territory being a green space, it is one of the cleanest and greenest cities in the EU. Lithuania is a member of the EU, NATO, Schengen, the UN and the OECD.

In 2020, the country ranked 11th on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index. Lithuania’s name found its first mention in the Annals of Quedlinburg in the year 1009, people had inhabited its lands from around 12 000-14 000 B.C.

Lithuania regained independence in 1990, after fifty years of Soviet occupation. Rather than fight with guns, Lithuanians took the peaceful route, and one might even say they won their freedom singing. The turning point in the peaceful protests held by Lithuanians was the Baltic Way – a human chain of 2 million people formed from Vilnius to Tallinn on 23 August 1989.

More info about Lithuania here: https://lithuania.lt/