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On Tuesday, 28th of August 2012, the videoconference with Rasa Jukneviciene, Minister of National Defence of Lithuania was held at the Institute of World Policy.This event is the part of project “Virtual forum of Global Women-Leaders” supported by Internews. The questions of gender equality in Lithuania were discussed during the videoconference. Also the Minister responded to questions related to Euro-Atlantic integration, the development of democracy in Ukraine and security trends in the region. Minister of Defence Rasa Jukneviciene stressed on gender equality to have deep roots in the history of Lithuania. According to her words, Lithuanians had been demonstrating progressiveness in that deal earlier than many modern developed democracies in Europe. She reminded that the vote Lithuanian women won in 1920, while the Frenchwoman could acquire it only after 1945. Mrs Jukneviciene also admitted that the Danish Armed Forces have six per cent of women, while in Lithuania – 11%. Special emphasis the Minister made on holding by women the key offices in the country – President Dalia Grybauskaite, the Speaker of the Sejm Irena Degutiene, the Finance Minister Ingrida Simonyte. Sharing the secret of her own political success, the Minister put attention on importance to have leadership skills and to be highly qualified in a special area. In particular, Mrs Rasa Jukneviciene has carried on defence issues since 1996, when she was elected to the Lithuanian parliament. The Minister of Defence paid special attention to Ukrainian question. Replying on a question, she stressed on the crucial importance of Ukraine to European security: “If we lose Ukraine as a democratic country in our European family, it will create more challenges for future security”. She emphasized that Vilnius interested in “Ukraine to be democratic, predictable, friendly country with other European countries”.