On 6 May 2016, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania hosted a trilateral joint meeting of the Constitutional Committee of the Riigikogu of the Republic of Estonia, the Public Administration and Local Government Committee of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia, and the Committee on State Administration and Local Authorities of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. Valentinas Bukauskas, Chair of the Seimas Committee on State Administration and Local Authorities, expressed his satisfaction in that the trilateral meeting in this format was organised for the first time in 26 years and that it was held in Lithuania.

The Seimas commenced deliberations on the constitutional amendments (draft No XIIP-3305), put forward by Artūras Paulauskas, Member of the Seimas, providing for the introduction of public representatives, lay judges, in courts.

In the meeting with the Flemish Prime Minister Geert Bourgeois on 10 May, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius discussed concrete projects and prospects for cooperation in the fields of trade, business, science, education, transport, and other fields.

On May 9 Minister of National Defence Juozas Olekas discussed security situation in the region, oncoming NATO Summit in Wales, and migration challenges with delegation of the Sub-Committee on Future Security and Defence Capabilities, Security and Defence Committee, NATO Parliamentary Assembly, on a visit in Vilnius.

As Belarus has announced about the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) alleged approval of the development of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (NPP) project, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania draws attention to the fact that the visit of the IAEA’s Director General Yukiya Amano to Belarus on 18-20 April, which Belarus aims to present as a confirmation that the Belarusian NPP project meets the IAEA safety standards, was a political courtesy visit rather than an experts’ mission to assess the project’s compliance with the international nuclear safety requirements and the national legislation’s compliance with the IAEA’s safety standards.

At its meeting of 4 May 2016, the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs deliberated amendments to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 proposed by the European Commission, which, once adopted, will allow citizens of Georgia and Ukraine to travel freely to European Union Member States.

On his working visit in Norway, Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius has met with Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg. The two Heads of Government have discussed development of bilateral relations, energy cooperation, regional security, Eastern Partnership policy developments, and migration issues.

On 2 May, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius met with the outgoing Ambassador of Armenia to Lithuania Ara Aivazian. The meeting focused on bilateral relations, firstly, economic and trade cooperation, the Armenia-EU cooperation as well as the situation along the Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact.

On Wednesday, on his working visit in Norway, Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius has met with CEOs of Höegh LNG: Chairman of the Board Morten Høegh and President Sveinung Støhle. Höegh LNG is the major owner and operator of Independence, a floating LNG storage and regasification vessel.