There are moments in civic life that transcend the ordinary: when a handshake between two city leaders carries the weight of decades of friendship, shared values, and a mutual belief that the best ideas know no borders. March 20, 2026 was exactly such a moment.
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway greets Mayor Benkunskas
Valdas Benkunskas, Mayor of Vilnius, arrived in Madison, Wisconsin, and in doing so, made history. He became only the second mayor of an independent Lithuania to visit our city since mid 1990s. The warmth between these two cities has never dimmed.
A Meeting of Mayors, A Meeting of Minds
The centerpiece of the visit was a one-on-one meeting between Mayor Benkunskas and Madison's own Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway. Two leaders who, separated by an ocean, share a strikingly similar vision for the future of urban life.
Their conversation was substantive and forward-looking. Sustainability, public transit innovation, convention centers and economic development, and infrastructure modernization topped the agenda. Madison has recently emerged as one of the most progressive transit cities in the United States. The city's ambitious pledge to achieve climate neutrality by 2030 served as a compelling backdrop for the day's explorations. And Vilnius is now the largest city in the three Baltic countries (over 600,000).
Mayors listening to the Madison Department of Transportation presentation
Mayor Benkunskas didn't just hear about Madison's transit transformation — he experienced it firsthand. The city's Department of Transportation provided a full tour of its evolving public transportation network: elevated bus stations rising elegantly above street level for a speedy onboarding, environmentally friendly electric buses gliding silently through dedicated center-lane bus corridors, traffic signals optimized for a speedy journey. The two mayors then strolled together down the beloved State Street, that great pedestrian artery of Madison's civic soul, before finishing with a shared moment of wonder beneath the magnificent rotunda and dome of the Wisconsin State Capitol. It was the kind of civic poetry that no conference room can replicate.
Reviewing the bus route before onboarding the bus
The insights Mayor Benkunskas gathered and shared carry real promise for both Vilnius and Madison. Conversations centered on how Madison's best practices in electrified public transport could be adapted and implemented back home where electric boats in Neris river are starting this year. Conference infrastructure development was also on the table, a timely topic as Vilnius plots its course as a major European venue for international gatherings.
37 Years of Partnership — and Counting
To understand the significance of this visit, one must appreciate the depth of what binds Vilnius and Madison. Their sister city relationship was forged in 1989, at one of the most consequential moments in modern European history when Lithuania was reclaiming its voice and its sovereignty. Madison stood with Vilnius then, and that solidarity has endured.
Madison today maintains ten sister city relationships around the world, but only three of those partnerships reach into Europe. Vilnius is among the oldest, and one of the most meaningful.
During the visit, Mayor Benkunskas extended a heartfelt invitation for Mayor Rhodes-Conway to visit Vilnius — a gesture of reciprocity that carries the hope of a return journey and deepened ties. He also conveyed a personal invitation to the former President Valdas Adamkus centennial celebrations honoring the president's remarkable legacy. These are not mere diplomatic pleasantries; they are the threads from which lasting international friendships are woven.
Mayor Benkunskas presented one of the gifts to Madison - a photo of Vilnius today and 30 years ago
Community, Conversation, and a Flag from Vilnius
After the formal meetings concluded, the day took on a more intimate character. Mayor Benkunskas and a delegation from the Chicago Consulate gathered with the Madison Vilnius Sister Cities Board members for an open conversation — the kind of honest, hopeful exchange that sister city relationships exist to foster.
The mayor presented a City of Vilnius flag as a symbol of enduring connection, and the room came alive with ideas: cultural exchanges, youth programs, professional and business partnerships, collaborative projects that could stretch across the Atlantic and enrich both cities. The meeting closed not with a period, but with a shared commitment to continue the conversation and build on this momentum at the city level, continent to continent.
Mayor Benkunskas then continued his American journey to Chicago, where meetings with the Lithuanian-American community awaited.
Why This Moment Matters
We live in an era when international partnerships at the city level carry growing importance. When national conversations grow complicated, it is often cities and ordinary citizens with their shared concerns about streets, buses, parks, and schools that find the clearest common ground.
Madison and Vilnius remind us that civic friendship is not a relic of the past. It is a living, breathing force, capable of producing real ideas and real connections. The electric buses Mayor Benkunskas rode through Madison's streets may one day inspire quieter, cleaner streets in Vilnius. The connections rekindled in a Madison meeting room may one day bring young people, artists, and professionals between two great cities that have chosen, year after year, to see themselves in each other.
The visit was organized by the Chicago Consulate General, the City of Madison Mayor’s Office, and Madison-Vilnius Sister Cities Board.
Here's to the next visit and to everything it will build.