On April 18 and 19 Minister of National Defence Juozas Olekas will conduct formal visits in Kiev and Kharkiv (Ukraine).

MEPs adopted an agreement on the sharing of passenger name records to help fight terrorism and debated counterterrorism measures during an eventful plenary session in Strasbourg this week. They also debate revelations about the Panama papers showing how shell companies are being used to avoid paying taxes as well as the migration agreement with Turkey. In addition new rules to give people more control over their personal data were approved.

At its meeting on 13 April 2016, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Linas Linkevičius, Minister of Foreign Affairs, reviewed Lithuania’s full membership of international organisations since the restoration of Lithuania’s independence 25 years ago.

EU-Turkey cooperation on migration should be uncoupled from the EU accession negotiating process, say MEPs in a resolution voted on Thursday. MEP praise Turkey for hosting the largest refugee population in the world, and note that it remains a "key strategic partner for the EU" but nonetheless call for progress on rule of law and fundamental values and "a structured and more frequent political dialogue on key thematic issues".

Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite on Wednesday appointed Tomas Zilinskas, the director of the Interior Ministry's Public Security Policy Department, as the country's new minister of interior affairs, her spokeswoman said.

On April 12, the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted a seminar on Information Society and Media in Vilnius to mark the twentieth anniversary of the European Commission's Technical Assistance and Information Exchange (TAIEX) instrument. Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrius Krivas opened the seminar which gathered representatives from the Western Balkans, Turkey and the Eastern Partnership countries.

Is it time for a new approach on migration? Italian S&D member Kashetu Kyenge and Maltese EPP member Roberta Metsola are calling for a comprehensive strategy including having binding targets for resettlement in each member state. MEPs debate and vote on their report on Tuesday 12 April from 8.30 CET. The two MEPs also answered questions about migration posed by our fans on Facebook. Watch the video to see what they had to say on issues such as the refugee crisis and the EU-Turkey agreement.

On April 4 representatives of Ministries of Defence of Lithuania and Kazakhstan endorsed a cooperation plan for 2016 during bilateral political consultations in Astana, Kazakhstan. Perspectives of cooperation between Lithuania and Kazakhstan were addressed at the event.

On April 10-16 Minister of National Defence Juozas Olekas will conduct a formal visit to the United States of America.