On January 15, at the initiative of President Gitanas Nausėda the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Coordination Council composed of heads and experts of institutions operating in the field of foreign policy will be convened. The Council will discuss the formulation and implementation of a unified plan for foreign policy based on a national consensus. The Council should ensure smooth interinstitutional cooperation in foreign policy.

Today the Government has decided to set up a commission to coordinate and ensure effective synchronization of electricity grid, and strengthening and implementation of network reliability, its security measures, and measures to reduce threats posed by the Astravets Nuclear Power Plant.

Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas, Ambassador of Germany to Lithuania Matthias Sonn and Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant General Valdemaras Rupšys discussed bilateral cooperation between Lithuania an Germany, met with the leadership of the NATO enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) Battalion Battle Group during visit to Rukla.

MEPs will examine the implementation of the EU's vaccines strategy and start looking into the agreement on EU-UK relations reached at the end of 2020.

Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has had a remote conversation with Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Mirella Marin, and has discussed the situation related to COVID-19 in both countries, as well as decisions at the national and European Union level regarding vaccination of the people against the pandemic, while stressing the importance of accelerating the process at the European and national level.

Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has had a remote conversation with Prime Minister of Iceland Katrín Jakobsdóttir, and has discussed prospects for further bilateral cooperation.

On 6 January, Ministers of 13 member states of the European Union called on the European Commissioners for health and for international cooperation with the EU partners, as well as on the European Commission to set up a support mechanism to allow the Eastern Partnership countries to secure early access to COVID-19 vaccine.

Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Speaker of the Seimas, congratulated Nancy Pelosi on her re-election as Speaker of the US House of Representatives.

“I am pleased to welcome another U.S. Army rotation in Lithuania. U.S. military presence in the region remains to be one of the fundamental deterrents. I would like to emphasise that we will continue making every effort to ensure the continuity of this rotational presence and the growth of strength of our cooperation with the U.S. Allies,” said Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas. Today he with Ambassador of the U.S. to Lithuania HE Robert Gilchrist was present at the Colors Uncasing Ceremony held by the most recent U.S. Army battalion rotation at the General S.Žukauskas Training Area in Pabradė.

As the EU continues to deal with the impact of the pandemic, while delivering on priorities such as fighting climate change, here’s what to look out for in 2021.