Today, on 5 May, following his participation in the regular meeting of the Eurozone leaders (the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, the President of the ECB Mario Draghi and the President of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem), in which Vice-President Siim Kallas and representatives of other Euro related institutions also took part, the President of the European Commission stated:

At the trilateral political consultations on 28 April in Tallinn, the delegation of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry led by the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrius Krivas and representatives of Estonian and Latvian Foreign Ministries discussed the security situation in the region, relations with Ukraine and Russia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania expresses its deepest sympathy to the families of the victims of the clashes that broke out in Odessa yesterday and all those who suffered in them.

While continuing the working visit to the United States on 29 April, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius took part in the Atlantic Council’s conference dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the enlargement of the EU and NATO, and met with high-ranking U.S. officials to discuss security situation in Eastern Europe, the need to strengthen the region’s energy independence and to be better informed about inhabitants of Eastern Partnership countries, as well as advantages of rapprochement with Europe.

As Lithuania marks the anniversary of its membership in the EU, President Grybauskaitė congratulated the participants of the conference "Ten years of Lithuania's membership in the European Union" - academics, political scientists, representatives of business, political parties and non-governmental organizations.

Many tough decisions have been taken as a result of the economic crisis in Europe these last few years and many more still need to be taken. What direction should Europe take? How should future challenges be tackled? On 22-25 May you have the chance to have your say on how Europe should be run. Watch the official EP TV spot for the upcoming elections to find out more.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė took part in the welcome ceremony for the U.S. ground forces at the Lithuanian Air Base in Šiauliai. The United States - a NATO ally - has sent its land troops to Lithuania in response to the threats posed to the region by the Russian intervention in Ukraine.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė is attending a high level meeting of the heads of state of EU and Eastern Partnership countries to mark the 5th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership programme. At the meeting, the leaders reviewed the achievements of the first five years of implementing this programme and discussed how to update it in view of the newly emerging challenges in the EP countries and the entire region.

Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius is not happy with how corruption is fought in Lithuania. According to the head of the Government, even though indicators are improving, the progress should commence much faster.

Lithuania's Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius welcomes European Parliament's decision made on Tuesday approving new key banking rules that would put an end to expensive taxpayer bailouts, making instead banks rely on their own resources.