Ms Kobeckaitė is one of the most experienced professionals in Lithuania's diplomatic corps. She has served as the country's ambassador to Estonia (1994-1997), Turkey (1997-2004), Azerbaijan (2001-2004), and Finland (2007-2011).
- Most people are convinced that an ambassador is someone who gets lofty pay, lives in a big house, and spends evenings mixing with elites in receptions. What does an ambassador's life truly look like?
- It only goes to show that people see merely the façade of ambassador's life and functions. Such a view of the diplomatic service is skewed and often has nothing to do with reality. In fact, everything is much more complicated. Receptions, that I do get to attend often, are part of a challenging work, not entertainment.
As for residences of Lithuania's ambassadors, I must say they are very different from what some other countries can afford. True, residences and embassies of some states are huge and sumptuous. While in Turkey, I visited all residences and embassies that number over 100.
For instance, Germany's embassy in Ankara take up a territory where you could go horse riding. The United Kingdom, too, has an enormous residence with gardens, pools, parks. And so do some other countries. Not a single Lithuanian ambassador lives in a residence of that sort. They don't even have premises worthy of the name residence. It is usually a simple flat.
When I went to Tallinn, the embassy was housed in the town's central square, on the fifth floor of a residential house. We rented a 3-room apartment where I had to receive, among others, President Valdas Adamkus. And the queue to the consulate extended through all five floors. For my residence, the embassy rented a 2-room apartment with a kitchen.
Something similar was in Turkey – we joined two adjoining apartments and set up an embassy there – it is still in use today. My residence was also an apartment. In Finland, the embassy was based in a 3-room apartment in the city centre. And I lived in a 2-room apartment.
When you arrive to your host country and introduce yourself, it is customary that the ambassador whom you visit pays you a return visit or invites you for dinner at his or her residence. In order to maintain the contact, you must also throw a reception at your place. It is difficult to do that in an apartment. There must be a sitting-room, where people gather before dinner, a dining-room, a cloak-room. Although I have had to venture a few times into receiving ambassadors in my modest flat.
- How many people work in Lithuanian embassies?
- I was lucky – all the embassies I've led had very small staffs. It was a very tight circle of people. We still keep in touch with colleagues from Tallinn. Excluding myself and including technical staff, there were three people. In foreign legations, almost every diplomat has two technical aids.
Assistant, aid, secretary, diplomats – almost all other embassies have more staff, while we had to perform all these duties just a few of us. Before I left Finland, there were three people. There wasn't even a diplomat to manage economic and political affairs. When they recalled a gifted diplomat due to lack of funding, only two remained – myself and a consul. The two of us had to run to make to it various meetings on everything and perform all other duties.
- How many hours did you have to work?
- There's no such thing as work hours. Morning till late night. If there's a meeting, someone has to go. We also have various people coming – ambassadors, visitors. There's a Lithuanian community that we keep in touch with. A multitude of issues you must settle together with the Foreign Ministry and other institutions. It is key that a diplomat puts the country she represents above herself. She is an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. That means, she does not voice her own personal opinions but only those agreed upon between the ministry and other state institutions: the president, parliament, government, other ministries.
- What qualities are then essential for a good diplomat?
- One must love one's work more than oneself, because self-love leads nowhere.
If you can't work in a team (and you can't if you only love yourself), if you don't respect it, it makes things difficult for yourself and for people around. If you go to a country, you can't hold prejudice against it.
An ambassador must be an all-round person, know absolutely everything. Take interest in and follow areas that she had previously might have known nothing about.
- One of ambassador's functions is to represent the country abroad. Other countries judge Lithuania based on the ambassador's appearance, behaviour. How does an ambassador have to behave and dress?
- I'm convinced that an ambassador – wherever she is, whatever she does, going grocery shopping or to a reception – must not forget she is a representative of her country.
You can never know who might see you, who watches you, who talks to you. And those who do and discover where you are from, see you as a representative of a country and often the only representative.
If you come across as arrogant, untidy, if you wear misshapen shoes or poorly ironed trousers – how will that make you look? Representing a country and embodying it are inseparable notions.
- Is it difficult to keep up a good image?
- Not for me, as you have to behave decently at all times anyway. If you respect your host country, you constantly make an effort to be nice. People are very sensitive for things like that. It doesn't mean you must wear a tie while picking mushrooms in a forest, but even if you are meeting a delegation in an airport on Sunday, you cannot wear yellow sneakers. A diplomat is bound by very strict confines.
- How long can it take to arrange a visit by a high-level official?
- It depends. For example, I came to Finland in August 2007, while a visit from [Lithuanian President] Valdas Adamkus was scheduled for October 2008.
We started preparing in December. I was deeply hurt when, having arranged everything down to minutes (agenda, when and whom to meet, which town to go to, issues to be discussed, who else, besides the President, receives him, time of the official dinner, invitations for 150 people), I suddenly received a call from Vilnius: the visit is called off.
In theory, such things should not happen or have extremely grave reasons. I had to urgently inform the Finns about it. They were very understanding, we postponed the visit – it happened six months later. And a visit from a president is usually accompanied by many other events taking place concurrently. These need separate arrangements. In diplomatic practice, it is believed that if during an ambassador's term at least one visit by her country's high official takes place, she has done her job well.
- That means you did a great job in Helsinki.
- During my term in Finland, there were six meetings between our presidents. On several more occasions, prime ministers and foreign ministers paid visits. We had a quite intense relation with Finland. To make sure it all goes smoothly, one must work not nine to five, but twenty-four seven.
- Is there any time left for leisure?
- Work is my leisure. I don't even know what leisure is and what to do with it. I've long been used to spending all the time left after performing my direct duties – and that time is scarce – doing other things, but these, too, often put me at a desk.
The interview originally appeared in a 15min supplement "My World" which is a joint project of 15min and the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
