Lithuania and Poland are the closest neighbours and strategic partners that have many interests and challenges in common, therefore, there is no alternative to close cooperation between these countries, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius in a meeting with the Secretary of State at the Polish President’s Chancellery Krzysztof Szczerski.

On the eve of the Day of the Defenders of Freedom, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius thanked societies of foreign countries for their support of Lithuania and protesting against the Soviet aggression on January 13, 1991.

On 10 January 2017, Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Seimas, met with Aleksandr Korol, Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus. According to the Speaker, the safety of the nuclear power plant in Astravyets is the key issue with Belarus.

An “effective and comprehensive European whistle-blower protection programme” should be proposed “immediately” by the EU Commission, urged the Budgetary Control Committee on Monday.

On 9 January 2017, Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Seimas, had a meeting with Alexander Udaltsov, Ambassador of the Russian Federation. The meeting discussed relevant issues related to the Lithuanian–Russian relations, namely, the role of Russia in the investigation of the January 13 case, nuclear safety and situation in Ukraine.

The position of Estonia in the classification of countries of the United Nations has not changed and hence no changes have taken place related to the Estonian candidacy for a non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council.

Three parliamentary committees question commissioner Günther Oettinger this week to assess his suitability for his new portfolio of budget and human resources. In addition the civil liberties looks at the current state of play regarding refugees in Europe, while the legal affairs committee votes on the first-ever EU rules for robotics and artificial intelligence.

On January 4 Minister of National Defence Raimundas Karoblis discussed cooperation between Lithuania and Sweden and security situation in the Baltic region at a meeting with Ambassador of Sweden HE Maria Christina Lundqvist.

From fighting terrorism to tackling the migration crisis: MEPs will be dealing with many significant challenges over the next six months. They will also be dealing with issues such as tax evasion and climate change. Read on for an overview of the main legislative proposals coming up.

An informal Snow Meeting will bring together Lithuanian and foreign security policy experts for the tenth time to discuss the main challenges facing the transatlantic community today and responses to them.