On January 18-19 Riga, capital of Latvia, will host a Baltic Defence Ministerial meeting. Baltic Defence Ministers Arvydas Anušauskas, Andris Sprūds (Latvia) and Hanno Pevkur (Estonia) will discuss status of joint Baltic projects, preparations for the NATO Summit in Washington and support to Ukraine.

On Wednesday morning, MEPs discussed the December European Council, the upcoming 1 February special summit, and assessed the situation in Hungary.

On Tuesday, MEPs discussed the programme of Belgium’s six-month Council Presidency, which started on 1 January, with Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

President Metsola opened the 15-18 January plenary session in Strasbourg with the following announcements.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė met with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, who is visiting Lithuania, at the Government House. The meeting was also attended by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Lithuania, Dmytro Kuleba and Gabrielius Landsbergis.

On Wednesday, President Gitanas Nausėda met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, who has arrived in Lithuania. The Lithuanian and Ukrainian leaders discussed the course of the war in Ukraine, the security and defense situation in the region, as well as military assistance to Ukraine.

Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Speaker of the Seimas, had a video call with Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, a new Marshal of the Polish Senate. The Speaker of the Seimas underlined that Poland was Lithuania’s strategic ally and that both countries shared a common historical past, close people-to-people ties, common challenges and an identical approach to threats.

At its autumn session, the Seimas achieved a milestone by adopting a crucial strategic documents, namely, the National Progress Strategy Lithuania 2050. This ground-breaking document reinforces the foundations of the state and establishes ways for ensuring national security, attaining demographic and social stability, rejuvenating the economy, preserving the environment, and promoting equitable development across all regions of the country. Lithuania 2050 will also help to restructure public administration by making it flexible, smart and inclusive and strengthening trust among citizens, government and civic organisations.

Simonas Šatūnas, a career diplomat, will take up the post of Vice-Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania from 2024. He will replace the current incumbent, Jovita Neliupšienė, who has been appointed the Head of the European Union (EU) Mission to the United States.