On April 9 Vice Minister of National Defence Vytautas Umbrasas discussed security situation in the Baltic Sea region, bilateral Lithuanian-Swedish cooperation in defence, and efforts to strengthen national capabilities at a meeting with State Secretary to the Minister for Defence of Sweden Jan-Olof Lind conducting a visit in Lithuania.

Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Seimas, took part in the Conference of Speakers of the European Union Parliaments in Vienna, Austria. During the debate on the European Union and its neighbours, the Speaker of the Seimas invited the national parliaments to pay attention to the Eastern Partnership and its objectives.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė is leaving for Brussels to attend a special meeting of the European Council.

On 4 April MEPs vote on extending EU gas market rules to pipelines coming from non-EU countries, including Nord Stream 2, a 1,200 km pipeline connecting Russia and Germany currently being built through the Baltic Sea.

At the fourth Ministerial Conference on Employment and Labour in Portugal, the member states of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) gave a new impulse to social and economic integration in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

The Agriculture Committee approved the second batch of proposals to improve EU farm policy so that it better meets farmers’ and consumers’ expectations after 2020.

Balancing work and family, the state of play on Brexit, and natural gas will be dealt with by MEPs during this week’s plenary session.

Updated EU copyright rules and a ban on single-use plastics were approved during this week's plenary session. MEPs also voted in favour of boosting consumer rights.

Foreign Minister Linas Antanas Linkevičius presented to the Seimas legislative proposals related to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). The Minister said that the proposed legislative amendments are aimed at regulating the legal status of UK citizens and their family members, both residing in the Republic of Lithuania and arriving in the Republic of Lithuania following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

On March 26-30 Minister of National Defence Raimundas Karoblis is conducting a visit to the United States of America. Minister will meet with members of the U.S. Congress, Chair of the Senate Committee on Armed Services Jim Inhofe, and attend events marking the 70th anniversary of NATO and the 15th anniversary of Lithuania’s NATO membership in Washington.