On October 25 State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of Moldova Aurel Fondos discussed defence policy topicalities of Lithuania and Moldova at a meeting with Vice Minister of National Defence Marijus Velička and Chancellor of the Ministry of National Defence Daiva Beliackienė.

At the Warsaw Security Forum on 26 October, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius discussed regional security challenges and NATO’s response to them.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with the newly elected Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid. This visit is one of the first foreign trips made by the President of Estonia since she assumed office on October 10.

Tomorrow, October 26, the President of Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid, is arriving on a working visit to Lithuania at the invitation of President Dalia Grybauskaitė. The two heads of state will discuss the security situation in the region and Europe, cooperation in defense and energy, bilateral relations, nuclear safety, and urgent EU issues. The visit is one of the first international trips by the newly elected President of Estonia.

On October 20 Lithuania signed a technical agreement with Norway on procurement of launchers and missiles of mid-range Norwegian advanced surface to air missile system (NASAMS). The agreement endorsed by the Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania and the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of Norway defines conditions and responsibilities of the parties concerning buying and selling NASAMS components as well as support Norway would render to Lithuania in developing mid-range air defence capabilities.

The UK's decision to leave the Union will already affect the EU's budget for next year. "There has already been an unforeseeable situation and now we have to deal with this problem," said Jens Geier, the MEP who will negotiate on behalf of the Parliament regarding the bulk of the EU's budget for 2017. MEPs will vote on Parliament's position in plenary on 26 October. We talked to the German S&D member about how Brexit is affecting the budget and the upcoming negotiations with the Council.

Rasa Budbergytė, Minister of Finance, presented to the Seimas Draft Law No XIIP-4790 on Approving the Financial Indicators of the State Budget and Municipal Budgets for 2017, hereby proposing to endorse the state budget revenue of nearly EUR 8.476 billion and the expenditure of over EUR 9.059 billion (appropriations exceed the revenue by EUR 583.4 million).

President Dalia Grybauskaitė is leaving on a working visit to Brussels where she will attend the European Council meeting on October 20-21. The 28 EU leaders will discuss relations with Russia, migration, the ratification process of the EU-Ukraine association agreement, trade with global partners, as well as economic and climate change issues.