PoliticsThe Parliament's key post will be decided on 1 and 2 July when MEPs elect the president, vice-presidents and quaestors. Check out our infographic for more information about the elections procedures and follow it live on our website. The referendum on land sale to foreigners and referendum initiation process has failed in Lithuania: voter turnout amounted only to 14.24%. The referendum has not taken place and its provisions have not been adopted, said Chair of the Central Electoral Commission (VRK) Zenonas Vaigauskas. The European Council gave its high political endorsement to the introduction of the euro in Lithuania as of 15 January 2015. The Council conclusions commend Lithuania for successfully overcoming the crisis and underline that Lithuania complies with the Maastricht criteria and is fully prepared to adopt the euro. The European Council nominates Commission President and approves future guidelines2014-06-28, 12:35The European Council - where Lithuania is represented by President Dalia Grybauskaitė - has agreed at its meeting in Brussels on the candidate for the Commission President and has approved the strategic agenda for the Union for the next five years. The Council conclusions also underline the importance of energy security and express support for President Poroshenko's peace plan. Though Lithuania's Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius plans to cast his vote in the referendum on land sale to foreigners, he does not hide the fact that he has been always against the organization of the referendum. During the meeting with Lithuanian Minister of Culture Sarunas Birutis on Wednesday, President Dalia Grybauskaite urged him to take specific and long-term decisions to protect Lithuania's information space. Lithuanian Seimas Ombudsman encourages respecting human rights in Foreigners Registration Center2014-06-25, 12:11"The respect for the human being and his/her rights should not depend on his / her nationality or origin" – this view was shared by the Seimas Ombudsman Augustinas Normantas on the World Refugee Day drawing attention to the acute problems in Foreigners Registration Center. The European Commission has today presented a roadmap for measures to strengthen the Single Market for defence, to promote a more competitive defence industry and to foster synergies between civil and military research including details and timelines for the actions. These actions include preparing a roadmap for a comprehensive EU-wide security of supply regime; practical guidance for regional authorities and SMEs clarifying the possibility of using European funds for supporting dual-use projects; and a new 'Preparatory Action' to test the added value of an EU contribution to defence-related research for the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). Taken together, these actions will contribute to making the European defence and security sector more efficient and strengthen the Union's CSDP. Today's roadmap is the follow-up to the Commission's Communication on defence presented in July 2013 (IP/13/734). Once again national minorities in Lithuania, including the Polish one, felt disappointed. Today the Seimas of Lithuania was about to consider two draft Laws on the Spelling of Names and the draft Law on National Minorities, but these two matters were removed from the agenda at the last minute. Parliamentary meeting of the Nordic Council, the Baltic Assembly and the Visegrad countries2014-06-22, 13:40On 17 June 2014 in Stockholm, for the first time in a parliamentary format the current situation in Europe among parliamentarians from the five Nordic, four Visegrad (Poland, Hungary, Czech and Slovak Republic) and three Baltic countries was discussed. The main theme of the parliamentary meeting was Democracy, Security and Stability in Europe – the Current Challenges. During the meeting discussions were focused on what parliaments should do and the role of civil society in strengthening democracy. |
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