The 37th Session of the Baltic Assembly, held in the Seimas, put a strong focus on the Baltic regional gas and electricity market.

On November 2, President Dalia Grybauskaitė is leaving on a working visit to Shanghai at the invitation of President Xi Jinping and the Chinese government.

Prime Minister Sauliaus Skvernelis has attended an official opening of a factory of UAB Dovista in Marijampolė. The company is a leader on the North European market for windows and external doors.

Internal border checks within the Schengen area would be limited to a maximum of one year, instead of the current two-year period, the Civil Liberties Committee agreed.

The Seimas has adopted a Resolution (draft No. XIIIP-2565(2)) on holding a mandatory referendum to amend Article 12 of the Constitution that defines the acquisition of citizenship. A total of 66 MPs voted in favour of the Seimas resolution and four abstained.

Vilius Šapoka, Minister of Finance, presented draft Law No XIIIP-2715 on the Approval of Financial Indicators of the State Budget and Municipal Budgets for 2019 to the Seimas, which focuses on structural reforms in the areas of health, education, social protection, innovation, and taxes and on reduction of shadow economy.

In a busy plenary week, MEPs will be looking to stem plastic pollution, improve the quality of drinking water and ensure the safety of personal data in Facebook.

Chancellor of the Government Algirdas Stončaitis has met with Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasutoshi Nishimura and has discussed bilateral cooperation in the fields of transport, energy, innovations and technology.

On 18 October in Vilnius, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius received Permanent Representatives to NATO of countries contributing to the enhanced forward presence battalion in Lithuania. They discussed Lithuania's efforts to strengthen its own security and the implementation of the Alliance‘s initiatives in the field of collective defense and deterrence that had been agreed upon.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė together with 51 European and Asian leaders attended the ASEM summit in Brussels. This year the biennial forum focused on the theme “Global Partners for Global Challenges.”