On January 27, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius participated in the annual conference “Security, Cooperation and Identity in Northern Europe” organised for the third time by Vytautas Magnus University, the embassies of Norway, Finland and Sweden, and the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania.

National MPs from across Europe will join MEPs in Brussels next week to debate the European Semester Cycle 2017 (Monday), Stability, Economic Coordination and Governance in the European Union (Tuesday) and national growth and jobs creation and financial assistance programmes (Wednesday). The events are part of the 2017 edition of the European Parliamentary Week (#EPW17).

At the meeting with the leadership of the Lithuanian World Community, Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Seimas, stated that the ways to retain the Lithuanian citizenship of Lithuanians residing abroad would be searched for.

On January 24, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius met in Vilnius with the Lithuanian experts taking leadership positions in the United Nations (UN) committees and working in the UN system. The meeting was attended by Prof. Dalia Leinartė, a member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Prof. Jonas Ruškus, a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Prof. Dainius Pūras, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, and Prof. Justinas Žilinskas, a member of the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission.

This week members of Parliament’s international trade committee vote on whether to approve Ceta, the EU-Canada trade deal. The environment committee votes on measures on waste reduction and recycling. Newly-elected Parliament President Antonio Tajani opens an event on Wednesday marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Workers' rights are increasingly coming under pressure due to developments such as global competition and the digital revolution. The European Commission is working on plans to improve the situation. On 19 January MEPs adopted a report stating that workers in new type of jobs should be covered by labour laws. We talked to report author Maria João Rodrigues, a Portuguese member of the S&D group, on how to create fair and functioning labour markets and welfare systems.

The Seimas approved the National Security Strategy by 106 votes in favour to none against and 1 abstention. The Strategy defines the key aspects of the national security policy; national security interests of the Republic of Lithuania; threats, risks and risk factors; and the priorities and targets of the national security policy.