According to the communiqué, participants of top-level meetings sent out 500 postcards, the most popular destinations were Germany, Italy, Belgium, the UK, and Lithuania. Presidency postcards with greetings from Lithuania will also reach Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Taiwan, Chile, South Korea, and Japan.
"They ate 331 cepelinai dumplings and 140 cabbage rolls," reads the press release, noting that cars designated for event guests have already covered 35,000 kilometers.
The media showed most interest in the visit of the European Commission, the Opening Ceremony, and informal meetings between ministers of justice and the interior and ministers of the environment. All in all, reports about high-level meetings in Vilnius were prepared by 207 journalists from Lithuania and 204 from abroad.
According to the press release, 17 tons of presidency souvenirs have been sent abroad, with another seven tons distributed across various institutions in Lithuania. Furthermore, some 3,800 permits were printed for the participants and organizers of high-level presidency meetings, using 30 up printer cartridges.
The bureau said the first presidency month attracted much interest on the Internet and the social media. The eu2013.lt website has been visited by 60,000 unique visitors. Interest in the presidency peaked on July 1, with 10,000 visitors. During the first month, the website published 300 news items, such as press releases, themed articles, statements and speeches, with 10 items a day on average.
More than 170 messages were posted in July on Twitter, with over 2,400 followers.
The official Facebook account ES Pirmininkavimas (EU Presidency) now has more than 3,800 followers, with 22 new followers on average joining every day since July 1.
“A total of 74 videos were published on youtube.com channel that month, they were viewed 19,800 times. Viewers spent about 44,000 minutes (or more than 30 days) in total watching these videos," reads the press release.
In late June and early July, Lithuanian diplomatic missions abroad hosted some 50 events marking the start of the Lithuanian Presidency and presenting Lithuanian culture.
During the first month, over 50 presidency events were organized in Lithuania, such as conferences, seminars, expert meetings, and events organized by the Seimas and social partners.
