On presenting the award, Edgars Rinkēvičs thanked Alberts Sarkanis for his contribution to building relations between the two countries and to the field of Baltic linguistics, especially in compiling a Lithuanian-Latvian dictionary.
Congratulations to the winner of the 2020 Balts’ Award, Alberts Sarkanis! Thank you for your significant contribution to building relations between Latvia ?? and Lithuania ?? and your efforts in the field of Baltic linguistics
— Latvian MFA (@Latvian_MFA) September 22, 2020
➡https://t.co/hmWzpBu1Oz pic.twitter.com/ZxDIlYVsot
Alberts Sarkanis was the first Latvian Ambassador to Lithuania to be appointed after the restoration of independence. He is the editor of the Lithuanian-Latvian dictionary issued in 1995, the author of a number of research papers on Latvian and Lithuanian linguistics and history, and a former lecturer at the University of Latvia and Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas.
September 22 marks the Day of Baltic Unity in Latvia and Lithuania, commemorating the Battle of the Sun in 1236, in which the Zemgale and Samogitian forces defeated the Knights of the Order of the Sword. The Balts' Award has been awarded since 2018 and comes with a prize of 3,000 euros as well as a very nice certificate and bunch of flowers. It is funded equally by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Latvia and Lithuania.
