The solemn opening of the 34th BA Session will take place at the Plenary Chamber of the Seimas on Friday, 20 November 2015. It is due to begin at 10 a.m. Speakers of the Parliaments of the three Baltic States — Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Chairperson of the Seimas Delegation to the Baltic Assembly, and the BA President, Giedrė Purvaneckienė, will take part in the opening session and deliver welcome speeches.
At 10.30 a.m., a meeting of the Speakers of the Baltic States – Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania; Eiki Nestor, President of the Riigikogu of the Republic of Estonia; and Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia – will be held at the Office of the Speaker of the Seimas. During the meeting, the Ambassador-at-Large Kęstutis Kudzmanas will make a presentation "Towards a Single Baltic Energy Market".
After the meeting, a press conference of Speakers of the Baltic States is scheduled at 11.30 (Press Conference Hall).
At 12 a.m., Giedrė Purvaneckienė, President of the Baltic Assembly and Head of the Seimas Delegation to the Baltic Assembly; Jānis Vucāns, Vice President of the Baltic Assembly; Aadu Must, Member of the Presidium of the Baltic Assembly; Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian Ministers of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius, Edgars Rinkēvičs and Marina Kaljurand, will hold a press conference (Press Conference Hall).
During the four sessions of the Assembly, politicians and experts will debate on relevant matters related to foreign and security policy, economy and health, namely, the development of joint transport and infrastructure projects in the region, the cooperation of the Baltic States in the area of cyber security and cyber defence, and aspects of EU's internal and external security among them.
Signing of the Joint Statement of the 21th Baltic Council and adoption of the final document of the 34th BA Session are envisaged by the end of the Session. The elections of the President and Vice-Presidents of the BA as well as the Committee Chairs and their Deputies for 2016 will also take place.
In addition, the Award Ceremony of the BA Prizes 2015 will be held.
At 6.50 a.m. on 20 November 2015, Giedrė Purvaneckienė, President of the Baltic Assembly and Head of the Seimas Delegation to the Baltic Assembly, will present the events of the Session on the Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) programme Labas rytas, Lietuva (Engl. Good Morning, Lithuania).
The Session of the Baltic Assembly will be broadcast live on the main website of the Seimas and the TV programme Seimas – tiesiogiai (Seimas Live). The opening of the event will be broadcast live on the channel "Kultūra" (Engl. Culture) operated by the LRT.
Please find a comprehensive programme of the event and the list of participants on the special webpage (BA2015.lrs.lt) section dedicated to the event.
On 1 January 2015, Lithuania took over the Presidency of the Baltic Assembly. The Lithuanian Presidency adopted the slogan For a Growing and United Baltic Region and set the following priorities: developing a growing and credible Baltic Region; secure Baltic Region; a sustainable and competitive society in the Region; and the Baltic Region in the world: development of regional networks.
The Baltic Assembly is an international organisation for cooperation among the parliaments of the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Estonia, and the Republic of Latvia, established on 8 November 1991 in Tallinn. The headquarters of its Secretariat is based in Riga, Latvia (http://baltasam.org/en/).
The term of presidency of the Baltic Assembly is one calendar year and the presidency is held alternately by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
