On Wednesday, 5 July 2017, Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Seimas, met with Norbert Lammert, President of the German Bundestag, and Hans-Peter Bartels, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces.

Last week’s plenary session dealt with issues such as Turkey, the first ever EU-Cuba deal and anti-dumping measures. Check out our overview.
MEPs paid tribute to Simone Veil, a noted French politician and the first president of the directly-elected European Parliament who passed away on 30 June, with a ceremony held in Strasbourg on 4 July.

MEPs discussed the priorities of the incoming Estonian Presidency with Prime Minister Jüri Ratas on Wednesday and gave their input on the July G20 summit in Hamburg.

On Monday, 3 July 2017, Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Seimas, met with Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the European Commission, who was paying an official working visit to Lithuania. The meeting focused on European security, the Eastern Partnership, and the EU’s Energy Union.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with Speaker of the German Bundestag Norbert Lammert and Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces Hans-Peter Bartels. Security situation in the region and Europe, preparation for the upcoming NATO Summit in 2018, Lithuania and Germany’s collaboration in countering hybrid threats and enhancing international peace and stability were discussed at the meeting.

Linas Linkevičius, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, had a meeting with Heinrich Brauss, Assistant Secretary General of NATO, in Vilnius on 4 July 2017 and discussed NATO’s further plans to strengthen collective defence and improve resilience to propaganda, cyber and other hybrid-type attacks.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Linas Linkevičius, opened the international conference “Safety of Journalists – New Challenges and Responses” in Vilnius on 3 July 2017 where the current situation of the safety of journalists in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) region, the most urgent challenges in journalists’ activities and possible international responses were discussed.

Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite has signed the parliament-approved bill on lobbyist operations into law.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is to visit Estonia on July 30, and during his visit he is to meet with Estonian prime minister and the presidents of Baltic countries, the White House said on Thursday.

On June 29 Defence Ministers of the enhanced Forward Presence host and framework nations signed a common declaration on the on the implementation of NATO enhanced Forward Presence at a meeting in Brussels.