In Parliament this week: a high-level conference on migration will be held while MEPs vote on Turkey and on new trade protection measures for the EU.

On 16 June, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius congratulated Simon Coveney on his appointment as the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland.

Last week’s plenary session dealt with issues such as energy labelling, ambitious plans to cut CO2 emissions, and the Erasmus programme.

On 15th June, Lithuania's Parliament approved a new Concessions law which comes into power from 1st January 2018. The legislation, passed together with the adoption of the EU Directive 2014/23/EU, enables a wider and more flexible use of concessions. The new law aims to establish an adequate, balanced and flexible legal framework for the award of concessions that ensures equal and open access to the market to economic operators from across the European Union.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite has signed into law amendments to the country's new Labor Code."The president signed the amendments on Wednesday," Skaiste Plausinyte, an advisor to Grybauskaite.

Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis has hosted an official lunch in honour of President of Slovenia Borut Pahor. The meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s official residence, which has recently been started to be used to welcome foreign delegations and for other representative purposes, and discussed the importance of cooperation between the two countries.

With 101 votes in favour to none against and 3 abstentions, the Seimas adopted a Resolution on the United Kingdom’s Withdrawal from the European Union. The Resolution underlines that the unity of Member States of the European Union (EU) in the negotiations with the United Kingdom (UK) provides the only adequate and necessary guarantee for ensuring the interests of the EU and its citizens and the indivisibility of the Union. In parallel, the Resolution takes note of the importance of the process of constructive negotiations and smooth withdrawal of the UK from the EU, which constitutes the basis for further development of relations.

Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Seimas, met with Borut Pahor, President of the Republic of Slovenia. They discussed bilateral relations between Lithuania and Slovenia, situation in the European Union, Ukraine and the Balkans. The focus was on hostile propaganda, its prevention, and fight against hybrid threats.

On 9 June, Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis has met with the Latvian and Estonian colleagues in Klaipėda. On their visit to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, the Baltic Prime Ministers have discussed the possibilities for the development of a common gas infrastructure with a view to increasing energy independence and reducing prices for the population.

Having regard to the aggressive Russian foreign policy, which aims at disrupting the European security architecture and is responsible for the creeping occupation of Georgia, the continuing aggression in Ukraine, which has already claimed over 10,000 lives, the information warfare being waged against democracies, and the interference with electoral processes in sovereign states in the Euro-Atlantic area, which poses an increasing threat, the Seimas urged the Western world at this time of particular threats to not only maintain unity, but also focus on supporting and enhancing the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms.