On May 1 Lithuania celebrates its 9^th anniversary as a member of the European Union. Within less than two months Lithuania will for the first time in its history host the six month-Presidency of one of the three EU's main decision making institutions – the Council of the European Union.

At the invitation of President Dalia Grybauskaitė, the President of Finland, Sauli Väinämö Niinistö, will make a state visit to Lithuania on May 14-15. During their meeting, the Presidents will discuss bilateral relations, economic contacts, Lithuania's upcoming presidency of the Council of the European Union, and the Nordic-Baltic (NB8) cooperation.

Tuesday, April 30, Vilnius - President Dalia Grybauskaitė extended congratulations to King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands on investiture and wished him continued success as well as well-being and prosperity to the Dutch people.
 

Despite all the difficulties, the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania has achieved great success in the latest parliamentarian elections in Lithuanian. This resulted in the 8-member EAPL faction in the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.

During the meeting in Brussels, Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius discussed on future cooperation with the Commission in the run up to and during the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council.

A new political party was created on Wednesday, 24th April. The Labour and the Labourists parties merged at the Congress which took place in Kėdainiai. The new party will be called the Labour Party (Labourists) and it will have the logo of the former Labour Party. A member of the Seimas, Vytautas Gapšys (31) was elected as a new chairman of the party. The new party will take all the responsibilities and obligations which will arise after the merger of the parties. According to the conditions of the merger, the members of both parties will automatically become the members of the new Labour Party (Labourists). The new party will unite 17,380 members.

On 24 April in Vilnius, representatives from the Lithuanian and Israeli Ministries of Foreign Affairs discussed Lithuania’s incoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union, bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

Wednesday, April 24, Vilnius - President Dalia Grybauskaitė accepted letters of credence from the Ambassador of Switzerland, Markus Dutly.
 

On April 24 through 27 a group of arms control instructors of Russia and Belarus will conduct an observation flight over Lithuania’s territory in an An-30 B observation aircraft provided by the Russian Federation on the basis the Treaty on Open Skies.

Tuesday, April 23, Vilnius - President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with the Lord Mayor of London, Roger Gifford, who is visiting Lithuania. The conversation focused on Lithuania's preparations for the presidency of the Council of the European Union and the investment climate in the country.