The European Parliament Group Leaders and the President of the European Parliament, in the framework of the Conference of Presidents, met today European Council President Herman Van Rompuy to the discuss practical arrangements for electing the next President of the European Commission.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with King Carl XVI Gustaf during her official visit to Sweden. Among the issues discussed were Lithuanian-Swedish relations as well as bilateral cultural and scientific ties.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė will be going on an official visit to Sweden on April 10. In Stockholm, the Lithuanian head of state will meet with King Carl XVI Gustaf and Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden.

On Wednesday 9th April the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Lithuania handed out candidate certificates and legal immunity to seven candidates of the upcoming presidential elections.

As more than 30 days remain until the beginning of the presidential election, on Wednesday the candidates will be provided with the presidential candidacy certificates and an official list of candidates will be announced.

In Madrid, Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevicius met with Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation to discuss the perspectives of bilateral economic cooperation, Lithuania's preparedness for the euro introduction, and energy security in Europe.

Today, Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius has attended the last official event of the Lithuanian Presidency of the European Union Council: the Conference of Speakers of EU Parliaments, focussing on the role of parliaments in building prosperous EU following the economic and financial crisis.

Vilnius finished up its two-day Conference on NATO's open door policy. The Conference attendees not only marked the 10th anniversary of the accession of Lithuania and six other Central European countries to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but also discussed the emerging challenges facing the Alliance and its partner countries in the light of Russia's actions against Ukraine.

Five pretenders dropped out from presidential election since they did not manage to collect a required number of votes. Only seven candidates will continue participating in the election.

Lithuania's Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius said that the Order and Justice was not planning to organize the referendum on the euro.