On 30 August in Bucharest, Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis met with the Chilean Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren Stork.

Today in Sweden, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Speaker of the Seimas, observed that in over 30 years, the Nordic-Baltic cooperation had undergone a dramatic transformation. However, as we are facing the biggest security challenges since the end of the Cold War, now is the best time to seize new opportunities to enhance the NB8 region through even greater political, economic and social cohesion.

Chancellor of the Government, Giedrė Balčytytė, met with a delegation from the upper house of the National Diet of Japan (House of Councillors), led by Vice President of the House of Councillors, Hiroyuki Nagahama. The meeting - also attended by Deputy Foreign Minister Jonas Survila - focused on Lithuania-Japan bilateral relations, the strategic partnership, regional security and cooperation between democracies in the face of threats posed by authoritarian regimes, also on support for Ukraine in countering Russia’s armed aggression.

On Monday, President Gitanas Nausėda met with the Chief of Defense of Germany, General Carsten Breuer, to discuss the security situation in the region, military cooperation between Lithuania and Germany, and strengthening NATO's eastern flank.

Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania summoned the Belarusian chargé d’affaires ad interim and handed him a diplomatic note, expressing a strong protest over violating the Lithuanian state border and destroying border guard infrastructure. Two persons illegally entered Lithuania from Belarus on 22 August. They possibly used cordless metal-cutting circular saws to cut off and demolish two video surveillance camera supports installed on the territory of Lithuania. They returned to Belarus afterwards.

President Gitanas Nausėda met on Monday with the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius. The President and Mr. Sinkevičius discussed topical EU policy issues, including support for Ukraine, sanctions against Russia and the ongoing discussions on the EU’s multiannual budget review.

Starting from August 18th, there will be a temporary suspension of operations at two out of the six border checkpoints between Lithuania and Belarus, specifically the Šumskas and Tverečius border checkpoints. The proposal put forward by the Ministry of Transport and Communications received Government approval earlier today.

On 9 August, marking the third anniversary of the fraudulent presidential election in Belarus, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Mantas Adomėnas, the Vice-Minister of Interior Arnoldas Abramavičius, the Commander of the State Border Guard Service Rustamas Liubajevas and the Director of the Border Control Points Directorate Mindaugas Zobiela held a press conference at the Medininkai border checkpoint, during which they presented the threats related to the travel of Lithuanian residents to Belarus.

The Commission is responding to the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) ‘Save Cruelty-free Cosmetics - Commit to a Europe without Animal Testing'. The response provides a comprehensive overview of the EU's legislative and policy framework relevant to the use of animals for testing purposes. It also proposes additional actions to further reduce animal testing.

A huge majority of Europeans believe climate change is a serious problem facing the world (93%), according to a new Eurobarometer survey. Over half think that the transition to a green economy should be sped up (58%) in the face of energy price spikes and concerns over gas supplies after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. From an economic perspective, 73% of Europeans agree that the cost of damage due to climate change is much higher than the investment needed for a green transition. And three quarters (75%) of Europeans agree that taking action on climate will lead to innovation.