Sweden took the helm of the Council of the EU for the third time on 1 January. What do Swedish MEPs expect from the coming six months?

President Metsola has launched an urgent procedure for the waiver of immunity of two Members of the European Parliament, following a request from the Belgian judicial authorities.

The Seimas approved the Law on Good Will Compensation for the Illegally Expropriated Immovable Property of the Jews of Lithuania and Jewish Religious Communities of Lithuania by 74 votes in favour, six against and two abstentions. The Law stipulates the procedure of compensation for immovable property of Jewish Religious Communities of Lithuania nationalized or illegally expropriated by the Nazi and Soviet totalitarian regimes. This Law replaces the Law on Good Will Compensation for the Immovable Property of Jewish Religious Communities.

In 2023 Lithuania will render more assistance to Ukraine in the form of training even more of its troops. On December 23 the Seimas unilaterally approved the amendment to the resolution regarding deployment of Lithuanian military units to multinational operations proposed by the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Foreign affairs and tabled for consideration by the President of the Republic of Lithuania as a matter of urgency.

the Commission proposed to strengthen the rules that prevent and combat trafficking in human beings. Every year over 7000 people become victims of human trafficking in the EU. That figure can be expected to be much higher as many victims remain undetected. The yearly cost of trafficking in human beings in the EU reaches EUR 2.7 billion. The majority of victims are women and girls, but the share of male victims is also on the rise particularly for labour exploitation.

In Riga, President Gitanas Nausėda met with President Alars Karis of Estonia and President Egils Levits of Latvia to discuss the key issues of regional security, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and the implementation of key joint infrastructure projects—synchronization of the electricity grids with continental Europe and the development of the Rail Baltica project.

Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has extended greetings to Leo Varadkar on his reappointment as the Taoiseach of Ireland, wishing him every success in executing the office.

Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė attended a remote discussion hosted by the McCain Institute for International Leadership with Dr Mark T. Esper, former U.S. Secretary of Defence and a Distinguished fellow of the Institute, to discuss Russia's war in Ukraine, support by the West for the Ukrainians as well as sanctions against Russia, and the challenges posed by autocracies to democracies and the rules-based international order.

Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has extended greetings to Krišjānis Kariņš on his reappointment as Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia and on the formation of the new Latvian Government.

Parliament has reacted to recent allegations with immediate changes and demands for measures to close loopholes in existing transparency rules.