On December 29 the National Cyber Security Centre under the Ministry of National Defence detected a large amount of e-mail letters containing a virus that were addressed to several public authorities. According to the recent data, the letters containing the Trojan.Emotet virus were received by several municipality offices and the National Public Health Centre.

Portugal took over the rotating Council Presidency on 1 January 2021, amidst a health and economic crisis. But what are the Portuguese MEPs’ expectations?

The EU Civil Protection Mechanism has been activated to assist Croatia in the aftermath of a 6.4 magnitude earthquake, following a request for assistance from Croatian authorities on 29 December.

Italy and Germany will continue contributing to the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states in 2021. Italian and German air force detachments with Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft deployed on the mission in September 2020 and will take the next round of duty of completing air policing tasks in and protecting the airspace of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, as well as demonstrating Alliance solidarity in the region, as of January 1. Italy will continue leading the 55th rotation of the mission from the Lithuanian Air Force Base in Šiauliai and Germany will continue providing augmentation from the Estonian Air Force Base in Amari.

Provisional implementation is to remain a unique exception, said EP leaders. Parliamentary oversight will start soon to adopt the EP position before the end of the provisional application.

On December 23 Margiris Abukevičius assumed the responsibilities of the Vice Minister of National Defence for which he substituted his former duties at the Ministry of National Defence. Margiris Abukevičius has 17 years long experience of working with security and defence, cybersecurity and European Union policy issues. He will be responsible for international cooperation and cybersecurity as a Vice Minister.

Just before the holidays, on 24 December, the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) have agreed on partnership agreement governing the future relations.

On 23 December, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia announced that they had agreed on a humanitarian flight for citizens of the three Baltic states from the United Kingdom.

The European Commission has granted a conditional marketing authorisation (CMA) for the COVID‑19 vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer, making it the first COVID-19 vaccine authorised in the EU. This authorisation follows a positive scientific recommendation based on a thorough assessment of the safety, effectiveness and quality of the vaccine by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and is endorsed by the Member States.

Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has participated, together with the Latvian and Estonian counterparts, in a remote meeting of the Prime Ministers of the Baltic Council of Ministers (BCM). It has been the first meeting of this cooperation format for the Prime Minister to take part. The counterparts have discussed most pressing issues in the Baltic cooperation, including bringing under control the COVID - 19 pandemic, also issues of energy, transport, etc.